


Mutually Beneficial

by mochidrop (hxnee)



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Romance, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Oblivious friends to lovers, Seb Moves Out, Slow Burn, Some angst, Suggestive Themes, sam doesnt know what the word jealousy means, sebastian hates being middleman
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:40:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28785837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hxnee/pseuds/mochidrop
Summary: Farmer Mia realizes at the beginning of her second year in Pelican Town that her farm is getting much too big to handle on her own. Jodi thinks Sam could use a bit of growing up, and his dad is on him about something much different. Sam doesn't know Mia well, but when he answers her request and starts spending almost every day with her, he comes to the conclusion that while he helps her out, she might also be able to help him out... in more ways than one.
Relationships: Emily/Shane (Stardew Valley), Maru/Penny (Stardew Valley), Sam/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 69
Kudos: 97





	1. Near-Death Experiences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam thinks about his life and almost runs someone over in the process

“Yoba _fucking_ hell _."_ Sam breathes out the words as he slams the front door behind him, sighing as the muffled sound of his mom’s voice calls out to him angrily.

“Do _not_ slam doors in my house, Samson Bennett Meyer!” Letting his skateboard fall to the ground, he plants one foot in the middle of it and pushes off with the other, the bumpiness of the cobblestone more annoying than usual. Deciding to take the long way around town, he heads toward the museum, thinking back on the last twenty minutes of his life.

_“Honey, I think maybe it’s time you got a job.”_

_“A job? Mom, I have a job--”_

_“A real job, Honey. Twice a week at Joja isn’t exactly much.”_

_“I mean, I work on the band the other days…”_

_“Sam, you’re almost 23 years old and I still cook and clean for you. You can at least bring in some more money.”_

_“Okay… maybe I can pick up some more hours at Joja, then. I still want time to work on my music--”_

_“Don’t you think it’s time to put down the guitar and start helping this family?”_

_“Mom!”_

_“The music isn’t going anywhere, Sam! You need to grow up!”_

He still isn’t sure if she’d meant that the music would still be there for him whenever he found time for it, or if she had been telling him the band would never make it -- either way, he’s pissed. 

He gets it, he _does._ He can tell his mom is starting to get frustrated, that he isn’t up to par with her expectations. He knows he could do some growing up, but he’s not ready to give up everything he’s working for and it feels like that’s what she wants from him. Not to mention his dad, who has only been home for _two days_ and--

“Oh!”

“Oh, shit--” Sam barely has time to put his foot on the ground before he’s sent barreling off his board and straight into someone, knocking both of them to the ground in a mass of tangled limbs and colorful swears. Lifting his head with a groan, he realizes he’s somehow made his way back around town and is now in the middle of town square, just outside Pierre’s.

_Well, at least the entire fucking town saw that… just what I needed._

“Uh-- hi?” Eyes drawn immediately to the sound of a vaguely familiar voice, Sam realizes that the reason he isn’t injured from the fall is because someone else _is._ Below him lies the farmer he’d run into only a handful of times over the last year, looking both flustered and uncomfortable, and it dawns on him that he still has her essentially pinned to the ground in the middle of town. 

“Oh--” Rolling off of her and clambering to his feet, he sticks his arm out, offering her a hand. She takes it, letting him pull her up before dusting off her pants. “Fuck, I’m really sorry about that -- are you okay?” She nods, shooting him a quick smile.

“That’s okay, Sam. You looked like you were thinking pretty hard about something.” His mind stalls, and he curses himself for not remembering her name even though she clearly took the time to remember his. He laughs awkwardly at her statement as he bends over to pick up his skateboard, wondering briefly if this day could get any worse. When he glances up at her again, he notices that she’s sticking something to the request board next to the calendar. He still feels horrible for basically running her over, so he tries to make small talk.

“What are you--”

“Shane! You stupid hoe, I know you can see me!” Completely taken aback by the words that have just left the seemingly kind farmer’s mouth, Sam watches as she points dramatically out at the man leaving Joja Mart, just past 5pm. Shane groans audibly, but there’s something about it that doesn’t feel as real as it does when the ruffled man interacts with anyone else. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s still approaching her.

“You make it awfully easy to want to ignore you, Mia.” 

_Mia! That’s her name!_

“And yet you never can, you angry, angry man.” Shane rolls his eyes, gesturing in the direction of the Stardrop, a clear invitation for her to join him. Sam cocks an eyebrow, deeply unsettled by how warm Shane is acting after years of being the town drunk. He’d heard that recently the drinking had come to a screeching halt, but he’s still shocked at Shane’s apparent character development. Mia falls into step with Shane, shooting Sam a quick smile.

“See you later, Sam!” He barely has time to wave at her before she’s gone, asking Shane about his day excitedly. Her companion brushes her off with a grunt but does nothing to stop her, and it crosses Sam’s mind that maybe there’s something between them that he doesn’t know about, but then again he’s only just remembered the girl’s name.

Looking back at the board, there’s a message written in small handwriting, simple and straight to the point.

**_In need of a farmhand until the beginning of Winter -- pay negotiable._ **

Sam stands there, reading and rereading the request as he thinks about his day. He thinks about the way his mom had looked at him -- the way she _always_ looks at him when he talks about his music. He thinks about the fact that, no, they don’t need money. His family had never exactly been strapped for cash, a fact he’d taken into account when deciding to be a part-time employee instead of working 40 hours a week like Shane, a life that could only land him in the Stardrop every night, desperate for some kind of escape. It’s no wonder Shane lived the way he had, and that makes it all the more amazing that he’s cleaning himself up these days. But Sam didn’t have it in him to sell his soul to Joja just yet. 

_This isn’t about money at all. She doesn’t care about the money. She just wants me to grow up._

Sam sighs deeply, thinking about Abigail helping her dad run the shop when she’s not working her ass off taking college classes online. He thinks about Sebastian, who’s essentially nocturnal from all the nights of working until he sees the sun rise, of lost moments with his friends and even worse-kept relationships with his family. His two closest friends work ten times harder than he ever has -- how can he possibly complain about a little less freedom when he’s the only one that hasn’t started living his life?

Shaking his head with a huff, he shoots one last dejected glance at the request board before heading up toward the mountain, a migraine forming quickly behind his eyes which can only be fixed by his favorite antisocial basement dweller.

\--

“Will you _stop_ sighing and moping around? You’re the one that wanted to hang out with me so bad, now I’m fucking losing the game because you’re being so damn loud.” Mia sighs, drawing what sounds suspiciously like an irritated growl out of Shane as he loses concentration yet again and is forced to face the _GAME OVER_ screen on the arcade machine. 

Shane drops 75 gold into Mia’s hand roughly and gestures at the Joja Cola machine beside her with a grunt. He thanks her once the cold can of liquid sugar is placed in his hand. Belching loudly -- and subsequently ignoring Mia’s noise of indignance -- he addresses her again, his eyes locked on the screen as he shoves another coin into the machine. 

“You need to stop worrying so much, kid. I know your farm is getting to be too big to handle on your own, but you put up the request and that’s all you can do for now.”

“What if no one answers it?” Mia knows she’s being annoying and that Shane would much rather be playing his game in peace, but he’s the closest friend she’s got in this town. She’s not sure who else to talk to. She also happens to know Shane is very aware of that, but his hard exterior only falls in very rare circumstances. Mia complaining to him about her farm at the Stardrop on a Wednesday night is _not_ one of those circumstances. That does not mean, however, that he isn’t listening. 

“Look. You’ve helped more people in this town in the last year than you realize. People like you here, so if they’re able to return the favor for the things you’ve done, then they will. Just give it a couple days, kid.” Mia nods, holding in her hundredth sigh of the night. “Plus, I can help with the animals.” Whipping her head up from where she’d been examining a scuff mark in the floor, she searches the side of Shane’s face for any sign of ingenuity. All she finds there is intense concentration. 

“Shane, you’re the _best_!” Leaning forward, Mia tackles the older man in a side hug, one that he complains rather loudly about.

“You still have to -- will you _get off of me_ \-- you still have to pay me! I don’t work for free unless it’s for Marnie.” Pulling away from him, Mia eyes him with a grimace.

“Never mind, you’re not my friend. We were never friends. Friends, we are not, Shane McCallister.” She tries to distract him from his game, but his elbow comes up just as she’s moving to press a random button on the machine, knocking her hand out of the way.

“You can pay me in food, asshole--” Groaning when he loses again, he chugs the rest of his drink and gestures at the door. “-- now let’s get out of here, it’s getting late.” He says something else under his breath on the way out, and Mia can’t help but laugh when she hears the words _“pain in the ass”_.

As they follow the river down toward Marnie’s ranch, the sound of music reaches Mia’s ears -- an angry riff on the guitar, followed by a string of swears more colorful than even she could ever come up with. It’s coming from the open window of the Meyer residence, and for a moment, Mia wonders if she should take the first step and reach out to the boy that had tackled her to the ground that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my first time writing for SDV, and my first time ever posting my work on ao3!! i really hope this is a story people are interested in! im just here to give sam all my love <3


	2. A Much-Needed Reality Check

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian levels with Sam in the way only a best friend can -- brutal honesty

When Sam arrives at Sebastian’s house just after 5:30 on that breezy Wednesday evening, he feels like his head is splitting in half. The events of the day refuse to leave his mind, a fact that is apparently written all over his face because the moment he walks through the door, Robin gasps.

“Sam, honey, is everything alright?” When he gives her an inquisitive look, she circles the counter to take his face in her hands. “Your sunshine isn’t as bright today.” Sam breathes out a quiet laugh, allowing Robin to drag him into the kitchen.

“Just a headache, mom.” Leaning his skateboard against the wood paneling of the wall, and then immediately picking it back up at Robin’s warning glance, he barely has time to free his hands for the pills she drops into his palm, a glass of water following not far behind.

“This should help -- you won’t find it surprising that with all the experiments and accidental explosions that happen in this house, I have my fair share of headaches.” Sam shoves the painkillers in his mouth, thankful for the first kind interaction he’s had all day. His mind flashes to Mia, remembering how nice she’d been to him not even half an hour prior, and he cringes at the memory. Robin mistakes it for head pain and offers him a sympathetic smile. 

“Hard day?” Sam downs the rest of the water, forcing a bright smile onto his face as he puts the glass in the sink.

“Something like that -- Seb home?” He laughs a little when Robin looks at him as if the answer’s obvious. “Thanks again, mom. I appreciate it.” He lets her pat his cheek lovingly before turning back toward the hall, calling out obnoxiously to his best friend as he makes for the stairs. “Oh, _Sebby!_ ” 

“Unless you’re a redhead named Robin with an impressive and equally frightening temper, I don’t answer to _Sebby._ ” Sebastian doesn’t even look up from his computer when Sam barges in, his fingers moving at lightening speed across his keyboard. Only when he smashes the _enter_ key and is seemingly satisfied with the results does he lean back, glancing over at the blond sitting on his bed. 

“What’s with you, Sunshine?” Sam shoots Sebastian a glare, one that becomes slightly concerned when Seb stretches his arms over his head, creating a sequence of loud cracks that spans the length of his spine.

“Yoba, Seb. When’s the last time you stood up?” Sam scoots backwards on Sebastian’s bed until he can lift himself enough to reach the handle of the tiny window near the ceiling. It’s the only window in the room, completely level with the ground outside, but it provides enough ventilation for Sebastian to smoke in his room without his mom noticing. Sam’s already cranking the thing open when Seb reaches into his desk drawer for his cigarettes. 

“Sometime around my last cup of coffee? Which was--” Seb pauses to glance into his empty mug, the stains inside already dry. “--definitely a few hours ago.” Pointing the end of his cigarette at Sam before bringing it to his lips, he focuses on lighting it while he talks. “Answer my question, Meyer.” Sam sighs, causing Seb to give him a once-over.

“A lot happened today.”

“Alright, wait, I need more coffee before you begin this epic tale -- and maybe some popcorn.”

“Fuck off, Sebby.”

\--

“So basically, your mom wants you to become more independent because you’re essentially just a large child, but you think she’s trying to get you to give up on the band.” Sam nods as he stares up the ceiling, completely sprawled out on Seb’s bed at this point. Seb continues, not even glancing at Sam for a response. “And your dad won’t stop bothering you about finding a girlfriend, even though he’s only been home for--”

“ _Two days._ Three, if you count today, but I barely saw him today -- but that’s even worse! Two days and he brings it up _eight times?_ How does that even come up--”

“Alright, settle down, I heard you the first five times you complained about it.” Sebastian ignores Sam when he groans, chugging the last of his coffee before continuing. “So you’ve got your mom trying to ruin your life by breaking up the band, and you’ve got your dad trying to ruin your life by inquiring about your admittedly embarrassing lack of a dating history--”

“ _Dude!”_

“Anything else?” Sam grumbles something that sounds suspiciously like a name, to which Sebastian nods. “Right, and then you’ve got farmer girl trying to ruin your life by standing innocently in a perfectly normal place to stand.” Sam sits up fully at this point, turning to Sebastian with irritation.

“Is this fun for you?” Sebastian nods evenly, not missing a single beat.

“Kind of, yeah. I feel like the answer’s right in front of you, but you just want to whine about it so you don’t have to go home until everyone’s asleep.” Sam flushes angrily, rising to his feet.

“Yeah? What’s the answer then, Seb? What’s a good middle ground that makes my parents happy and also lets me keep doing what I love? Because I’m really not seeing one.”

“Mia, obviously.” Sam furrows an eyebrow, shaking his head in confusion. “She needs a farmhand. Nothing like a little manual labor to knock some responsibility into you, even with all that hair gel you use.”

“Wait.” Sam crosses the room to stand in front of Sebastian’s desk. Seb had gone back to his work, and he really needed all of the introvert’s attention right now. “How do you know Mia needs a farmhand? She posted that request _today,_ and your ass has been in that chair for the last, like, 18 hours.” Sebastian shrugs.

“She told me a few days ago that she was going to post it -- she’s been thinking about it for a few weeks, actually. How much to pay, how much work is too much work, all that stuff. I figured if she was outside Pierre's then she must have gone through with it.” The room is quiet for a few moments while Sam just stares down at his best friend.

“Why do you know all of that?” Sebastian looks up, a thought crossing his mind as he puts some pieces together.

“You didn’t know I was friends with her?”

“You’re _friends_ with her? Since when?”

“Uh… it’s been a while? I don’t know, we’re kind of close--”

“You’re not close with anyone.” Sebastian rolls his eyes, resuming his work while Sam plops down on the couch against the wall.

“She likes to fish quietly in the rain. I like to stand quietly in the rain. Standing and fishing can happen simultaneously. She _also_ happens to read quietly, which is probably the only time I can get shit done around here with someone else in the room.” He fixes Sam with a pointed stare, one that Sam knows is harmless.

“Right, so you and the quiet fishing bookworm are besties now?” Sebastian snorts at Sam’s summary, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks at his best friend. The normally bright boy is clearly conflicted and frazzled about a lot of things, and Sebastian feels kind of concerned for his friend. He might be a little late to bloom, but life decisions are hard no matter when they happen. 

“Look -- Mia’s a cool girl. She’s a genuinely good person that notices things other people never will. You really think she’d come within ten feet of me if she only saw what everyone else in this stupid town sees when they look at me? She’s quiet but pretty fucking fiesty if you test her, and--”

“Dude. Are you in love with her?” Seb groans, his head lolling back as he considers taking up a religion for the first time in his life.

“ _No,_ dumbass, I’m not in _love_ with her. I’m trying to tell you that she’s someone you would get along with if you would just give it a damn shot, and she’s basically _handing you a job.”_ Sam considers his words for a few moments, knowing deep down that there’s not going to be anything that makes quite as much sense as this. He’s known since the moment he saw the request on the board, but he’s been trying his best to find a reason to resist.

“What about my dad?” Sebastian smirks, and Sam already knows where this is going.

“Mia’s pretty cute, you know.” Sam stands, crossing the room to snatch up his skateboard.

“Alright, asswipe, you were no help. I’m going home.” Sebastian laughs wholeheartedly now, something so rare that Sam can’t bring himself to stay annoyed as he heads to the door.

“Hey, I’m probably not going to see you tomorrow, so tell your dad I said ‘happy birthday’, ‘kay?” 

Oh shit, his dad’s birthday. In all his self-deprecation, Sam had forgotten that tomorrow, he’d have to be the perfect son with the bright smile and even brighter energy. He’d promised himself when his dad had left that he would always be bright enough to distract Vincent from the obvious hole in their family, but it had just become his personality over the years, and now it’s really starting to bite him in the ass.

Waving half-heartedly at Sebastian on his way out, Sam heads down the mountain to a house that, hopefully, was already dark and quiet for the night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm still trying to find a balance between sam's pov and mia's pov, but for now, please enjoy some more sam!


	3. Chance Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia doesn't expect to run into Sam, who somehow keeps showing up

Mia wakes early the next morning to complete silence. She’d been here just over a year and the silence still surprises her. After years of sirens and shouting that would haunt the streets of the city at night, slipping well into the next day, the sound of nothingness was at times overwhelming. Now she’s thankful for every morning spent this way. 

After selling her soul to Joja and transforming almost overnight into a walking zombie, Mia had lost all the parts of herself that made her feel whole. Everything she’d loved -- taking walks every evening, sitting undisturbed by her window, laughing wholly and freely -- had been packed up and stuffed away into a box, allowing the smog of the city to fill not only her lungs but her mind. It had taken the better part of last year to find that little box in her head and become herself again. These days, the only thing that’s packed away is her college degree, essentially useless here in Pelican Town.

Stretching her arms over her head for a long moment, Mia finally lifts her head from the pillow when a small cry of attention calls out from the other side of the bed. Rolling over, she meets the eyes of her sleepy grey cat, curled up close to her head.

“Morning, Miso.” He meows gently, rising to his feet for the sole purpose of moving toward her and sitting on her chest. She stares up at him, deadpan, and the cat’s gaze is almost mocking. “I’m glad I can provide some comfort for you, but I would like to get my day started.” As if to start an argument, he makes himself more comfortable, daring her to move him. 

Wrapping an arm around her bratty companion, Mia sits up in bed, shushing Miso when he complains. Together they venture into the kitchen, where she sets him just beside his bowl before filling it. Not even bothering to get dressed, she slips on her work boots and heads down toward the coop, the early morning air nipping at her bare arms.

“Good morning, ladies!” There are two white chickens and a black chicken clucking for her attention as she climbs into the coop. She sprinkles a few scoops of feed on the floor before grabbing a large piece of cardboard from the shelf by the door. It had come from one of her moving boxes, torn off and molded to be able to hold a few eggs once she’d finally earned enough money for a coop. Moving through the the space, she picks up eggs and places them into the makeshift egg carton, petting her chickens as she goes.

“Morning, Chickie… Morning Peckito… Morning Shane!” The black chicken doesn’t respond to her pet, simply staring up at her with wary red eyes. Mia chuckles, remembering the day she’d found the black, spotted chicken egg sitting in her coop with distinct clarity. 

She’d run down to Marnie’s ranch with the thing cradled in her outstretched arms, trying not to keep it too close to her body but terrified of dropping it. Instead of Marnie, she’d found Shane, who took one look at it and tried to slam the door in her face, the words  _ “oh, hell no” _ leaving his mouth without pause. After forcing him to let her into the ranch, they’d sat together in front of the incubator for hours, an entire Saturday of productivity wasted away, but that night she could finally call someone in Pelican Town a close friend. Once the egg had hatched and the demonic chicken had emerged, she named it Shane in gratitude, something that the man still does not approve of.

Slipping her phone out of her pocket, Mia snaps a quick photo of the fully grown demon chicken and sends it to Shane, waiting for the usual response of a middle finger emoji before standing to her feet.

“Have a good day, ladies!” Climbing out of the coop, she opens the small hatch at the front so they can explore the farm, heading over to the newly built barn not too far away. There’s a brown cow inside, still a calf and still very wobbly on her feet. She stumbles over to Mia when the door opens, mooing softly.

“Good morning, Choccy!” The calf bumps Mia’s torso with her nose while she pets her, quite shy but much better than she’d been a couple days ago when Mia had led her home for the first time. “Did you have a good night? It wasn’t too lonely, was it?” Choccy only bumps her torso again, earning her some more head pats. “I’ll try my best to get you a friend soon, okay? For now, let’s explore the farm a little.” 

Exiting the barn, she opens the hatch out front, guiding the calf outside and showing her to some grass not too far away. Out of the corner of her eye, Mia can see that Shane the Demon Chicken is approaching and she stills, hoping silently that nothing happens between them. When Shane arrives, Choccy becomes visibly nervous, staring down at the chicken tensely, but Shane only examines her warily for a few moments before offering the calf a half-hearted cluck and wandering away. Mia chuckles, shaking her head and patting the side of Choccy’s head to calm her.

“I think you just made a friend.”

\--

An hour later, Mia’s making her way to Pierre’s hoping that someone’s taken down her request and will find her soon. Her shoulders slump slightly when she sees her note still there, fluttering in the wind.

_ Maybe I should have been less vague with the pay… should I edit it? _

“Mia?” Mia turns, finding the last person she’d ever expect.

“Sam, hi!” He smiles shyly at her enthusiastic greeting.

“How are you? Nothing hurts, right?” She furrows her eyebrows when he gestures vaguely at her entire body. It’s in that moment that Mia learns Sam has relatively fair skin, as the realization that she has no idea what he’s talking about hits him and he flushes a deep pink almost instantly. “Uhm -- yesterday? I ran you over?” 

“Oh!” Mia laughs, shaking her head with a smile. “I’m totally fine, I promise -- I just hope I didn’t hurt your sick ride.” Sam smiles, for real this time, and lifts the skateboard to show her.

“Nah, she’s fine. I’ve put her through worse -- one time I slipped off and sent her flying right into the river, so…” Mia nods, pleasantly surprised that she’s managed to keep Sam’s attention for this long. Considering how well-known he is for being warm and welcoming, Mia had found it shockingly hard to get to know him. 

_ Who knew all it took was getting run over?  _

“Oh, hey, today’s your dad’s birthday, right? I gotta make sure I find him before the day’s over!” Sam nods, and Mia notes that the light in his eyes has gone out just slightly, but he blinks it away almost instantly, his eyes drifting to the request board behind her.

“So, I actually wanted to ta--” 

“Sam, Mia!” They turn to find Maru rounding the corner into town, dressed in her nurse’s outfit. Sam waves sweetly at her, calling out a greeting.

“‘Sup, Maru.”

“Hi, Maru!” Sebastian’s sister approaches them, latching onto Mia’s arm almost immediately, her steel grip making Mia groan loudly.

“You, Miss Farmer Girl, have your health checkup today, do you not?” Mia shakes her head furiously.

“No, I do not. Absolutely not, no way. Must be a mistake!” She tries to pull away, but Maru’s ridiculously strong for her size. 

“You did this last year, too! Dr. Harvey thought you forgot, but you were just hiding in the bushes--”

“I was not _ hiding _ , I was  _ foraging _ !” 

“Just because you don’t like doctors or needles, that doesn’t mean you can skip out on your yearly checkup! You don’t want to see Dr. Harvey when he’s frustrated -- he gets all frazzled, and you don’t want a frazzled doctor coming at you with a needle, do you?” Mia grimaces, looking thoroughly upset by the idea. As she gets dragged toward the clinic against her will, she reaches out to Sam, who’s watching the entire ordeal with confused interest.

“Sam, don’t let her take me, I’m begging.” He looks at her and apparently decides to take pity on her, because he’s lifting his arm to take her hand.

“Samson, if you help her, I will tell her about the time you walked in on Sebastian naked in the bathroom and then complained that he had a bigger di--” 

“You  _ literally just told her! _ ” Sam cries, taking his raised hand and pointing indignantly at Maru. Mia uses the moment to try to escape, but Maru holds tight, wrenching open the door to the clinic and dragging Mia inside. The last thing she sees before the door closes is Sam staring down at his crotch dejectedly, and she decides Samson Meyer is rather endearing.

\-- 

Hours later, Mia trudges back onto her farm, exhausted from the day. After leaving the clinic, where she’d pouted at Harvey for the entire duration of the checkup until he had finally given her a knowing look and sent her on her way, she had stopped by Sebastian’s house to return one of many books he’d lent her since they’d met. He had asked about her farmhand request, but when she responded that there were no takers, he’d given her a look she couldn’t decipher before humming and returning to his work. She had read quietly on his couch for a while, wondering if she should just ask Seb if he knew something, but she decided to let him work in peace.

After just barely coming across Kent on her way home, she’d handed him a container packed with roasted hazelnuts, something Vincent had let slip once that his father loved. The man had smiled widely, something she still feels proud of.

Mia crosses the southern end of the farm and heads for the house, but she stops when she notices Choccy is napping under a tree not too far away. Approaching the calf, she takes a seat next to her and leans back against the trunk of the tree.

“How was your day, Choccy?” Mia runs her hand over Choccy’s head, to which the cow readjusts her position on the ground until her large head is able to rest in Mia’s lap. Mia coos, wondering if all cows are this loving, or if Choccy’s just special. Once Choccy’s comfortable, Mia figures she might be able to slip out from under her head and go inside, but she finds that the head in her lap is a lot heavier than she thought it’d be. Mia closes her eyes, figuring she could wait a few more minutes.

\--

She wakes several hours later, cold and wet, to an urgent knocking sound.

“What the fuck?” The tree above her head had provided enough protection from the surprise thunderstorm that she probably wouldn’t get sick, but she’s still pretty soaked. Looking around in the dark, she finds herself alone, figuring that Choccy had retreated to the barn when it started raining. Rising to her feet, she heads there, closing the hatch before heading to the coop to do the same. The knocking sound reaches her ears again, and she turns toward her house in confusion.

Standing on her porch, completely drenched, is Sam. His hair has flattened itself out in the rain, so much that she barely recognizes him when she approaches him from behind.

“Sam?” He whips around, almost slipping on the wood under his feet, and Mia can tell immediately that he’s upset. His brow is furrowed deep, and his jaw keeps locking and unlocking in a way that tells Mia he’s pissed. When he locks eyes with her, however, he relaxes just slightly, and his face becomes softer. He looks nervous, truth be told.

“Hey, uh -- sorry to bother you so late, but--” Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a crumpled piece of paper, torn at the top almost angrily. Mia recognizes it even in the dark. 

“Do you still need that farmhand?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally we get some more interactions between them -- i hope you like this chapter!


	4. Friends? Maybe?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia discovers Sam is much taller than Shane, and Sam decides he hates Seb for putting ideas into his head

Mia pushes open the door to her house before glancing back at Sam, who stays on the porch, drenched and apprehensive. 

“Coming?” He hesitates before following her, shutting the door carefully behind him. When he looks up, she’s gone, but there’s a door next to the base of her stairs that’s open, and he can hear her rummaging around in there. She peeks out at him before ducking back into what Sam can only guess is a bathroom. 

“You hungry?” Sam stares down at the pool he’s creating on the floor beneath him, thinking back to the family dinner he’d just stormed out of, his plate almost completely untouched. His stomach turns, his head throbbing as he rubs lamely at his temple.

“Uh -- I’m okay, actually. Thank you, though.” As if to add to his current misfortune, his stomach decides to grumble -- loudly, he might add -- and he can only hope Mia can’t hear that far into the house. The smirk she wears when she exits the bathroom holding two towels tells him he’s been caught. She holds out a towel as she approaches, and he takes it with a grateful smile.

“Right, well I’m going to make enough dinner to feed two people, and then I’m going to plate the food on two separate plates and leave one on the stove -- you’re welcome to  _ not  _ take it if you aren’t hungry.” Sam shakes his head as he towels off his hair, thankful that the cloth is hiding his embarrassingly large smile. 

“But first -- take off your clothes.” Pulling the towel away from his face in a panic, Sam finds that Mia’s already moving off into a hallway on his right, her shoulders shaking with laughter. Breathing out a laugh of disbelief, he follows her into what can only be her bedroom. 

“You had me there, I’m not going to lie. Do you even have anything that would fit me?”

“Of course I do, I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t.”

“Anything that won’t make me leave my dignity back there with that puddle on the floor?” Mia moves to her dresser as Sam waits at the door, bending over to dig through the bottom drawer. He finds that she has quite a nice backside, and he stares for a moment before realizing he’s acting like a Grade A creep. Turning away, he examines the rest of the room, his cheeks flushing angrily.

_ Really, Sam? Staring at her ass? Who are you -- Alex? _

Sam chuckles at his own internal roast of the arrogant athlete, grabbing Mia’s attention.

“What?” He glances at her, smiling before shaking his head.

“Nothing. I like your place -- it looks like you’ve done a lot to it.” She grins before going back to her dresser. Sam looks away intentionally this time. 

“Thanks! This is your first time seeing it, right? I think only Shane and Maru have seen it so far… maybe Seb? Sometimes when Robin’s upgrading stuff he stops by to help her -- or bother me, I’m not sure to be honest.” Sam snickers, thinking about the Sebastian that most people don’t know. The one that likes to leave his room occasionally just to cause trouble for his friends. Sam thinks back to Sebastian mentioning that he’s close with Mia, and he guesses it must be true. 

Torn from his train of thought by the smallest of sounds, something akin to a cry for attention, Sam looks around. It happens again, this time from a spot by the bed, and he looks down. A pair of yellow eyes stare back at him before disappearing again beneath the bed, a small grey snout peeking out and sniffing at the air cautiously.

“Miso, don’t be shy -- say hi to Sam.” The eyes appear again, examining Sam’s sopping wet form for a moment before deciding that the blond is probably harmless. Slowly, a small grey cat emerges from beneath the bed, approaching him with uncertainty. Mia continues, still buried in her dresser. “Sorry about him, he’s pretty shy around guys to be honest. I guess he doesn’t like the authority or something -- dominance? Competition? Is that how animals work? I don’t know, but he still basically hates Shane -- aha!” 

Sam crouches, reaching a single finger out to Miso and waiting patiently while the cat sniffs at it. He winces when Miso decides to take it between his teeth, but it doesn’t hurt too bad, so he allows the tiny assault on his finger while he looks Mia over. She’s holding a pair of black sweatpants and a white tee, looking proud of herself. Her face drops when she sees that Miso has finished his assessment of Sam, the result negative as expected.

“Miso, you can’t just  _ bite  _ guys you don’t like! If I can’t do it, then neither can you!” Sam barks out a laugh, scaring Miso and forcing the cat to return to his safe space under the bed. Muttering out an embarrassed  _ “sorry, Miso”,  _ Sam rises to his feet, reaching for the clothes Mia’s holding out to him.

“These yours?” She shakes her head.

“Nah, I figured you should keep your dignity. They’re Shane’s.” At the amused glance Sam shoots her, she scoffs, pointing accusatorily at him. “It’s not what you’re thinking, Meyer.” Ushering him into another bathroom, this one connected to her room, she talks through the door. Sam hears shuffling on the other side, so he guesses that she’s also changing out of her wet clothes. 

“I found Shane passed out in the forest once, trashed beyond belief, so I basically forced him to agree to come to my house whenever he was drunk and crash on my couch. Now that he’s sober, he doesn’t do it anymore. We both forgot he had clothes here, but I’m glad they’re useful now.” Sam looks down at himself in the fresh clothes and shuts his eyes, sighing deeply. He knocks on the door to let her know he’s done, not wanting to just walk out and accidentally see something he shouldn’t. She knocks back after a moment, and he opens the door to show her, his face completely deadpan as she gives him a once-over.

“Wanted me to keep my dignity, huh?” Mia purses her lips, turning away and covering her mouth. He can hear her struggling to breathe as she laughs at him.

“I didn’t realize how much taller you were than Shane.” Mia glances back at Sam -- at the sweatpants that cut off far higher up his leg than they should and the baggy tee that’s taut against his chest and arms -- and she’s forced to look away again, amusement plain on her face. She leaves the room, taking both of their wet clothes into the main room without a word. Sam follows behind, and it’s his deep sigh that sends her into a fit of laughter. 

“I’m so glad you’re having fun.” Mia glances back at him before continuing to laugh, and even Sam has to crack a smile. When she’s done hanging their clothes, she moves into the kitchen, opening the fridge and fishing around inside. Sam catches himself appreciating her backside again and shakes his head, taking a seat at her kitchen table.

“Anything you  _ don’t _ have a taste for?” Sam gives up on the  _ “I’m not hungry” _ idea, but he does think back to what he should have been eating for dinner and grimaces. 

“Fiddlehead risotto.” Mia tilts her head to the side as she hears his response, thinking that it’s an awfully specific thing to not want.

“Okay, so… spaghetti?” She can hear Sam chuckling behind her, so she takes that as a yes and starts pulling out ingredients. She starts boiling water in a pot for the pasta and pulls out a cutting board for the tomatoes. Sam sits quietly behind her, staring at the swirls and marks in the table as he gets lost in his head. He thinks about the argument that had started before his mom had even finished serving dinner, the way his dad had done nothing to appease his mom’s badgering for even just the span of one meal, only adding to it with his continuous concern for Sam’s love life. It’s his father’s birthday, and all he did was get into a fight with his mom and then abandon them. 

_ Fuck… Vince must be so confused right now… nice going, dumbass.  _

“-am… Sam?” He lifts his head, finding Mia’s concerned eyes looking down at him as she stirs the homemade sauce in a small pot. 

“Sorry, what?” He looks conflicted, but she can tell he’s trying hard to push it aside. Smiling gently, she figures something must have happened in the hours since she’d seen him outside the clinic, and she knows enough about Jodi to know that she would have wanted a family dinner for Kent’s birthday. It’s not hard to put the pieces together, but she’s still not sure what she has to do with any of it. Sam is here for a reason, after all. 

“I was just going to ask why you decided to take my request…” Sam thinks back to piece of paper shoved into the pocket of his jeans, hanging on a drying rack not ten feet away.

“Right… your request -- sorry, is this an interview? Should I have come more prepared?” Mia laughs at the look of panic that crosses Sam’s face, shaking her head as she turns off the burners and moves the pot of pasta to the sink to drain it.

“No, trust me, I couldn’t possibly risk interviewing you. I really need the help.”

“No one else reached out? What about Shane?” Mia snorts quietly.

“I wouldn’t let that man near my parsnips with a ten-foot pole. He’s concerningly bad at caring for crops, and that’s coming from someone who used to accidentally kill  _ succulents _ while she was living in the city.” She turns, holding two plates of spaghetti, one of which she places in front of Sam with a small flourish of her wrist. “Your gourmet meal, sir.” Sam smiles widely as he thanks her, and Mia notes that he’s smiling much more easily around her. 

“So, he’s not helping at all-- holy shit, this is amazing.” Sam speaks with his mouth full, his eyes filled with excitement as he digs in. Mia tilts her head to watch him, finally seeing the warm, boyish charm that he’s so well-known for. He doesn’t even notice, too invested in his dinner. 

“Shane’s helping out with the animals, but only on the weekends because he still works at Joja, of course.” Sam stills, swallowing his food nervously. 

“Uh… yeah, about that. I actually also work at Joja part-time -- can I make those two days up to you on the weekends? I mean, I could always come in the mornings, I don’t start work until--” He stops when Mia shakes her head good-naturedly and waves him off. 

“Coming on the weekends is perfect. I don’t want you going to work exhausted. But what about your band stuff?” Sam lifts an eyebrow, wondering where she could possibly be going with this -- or even how she  _ knows  _ about the band stuff. She mirrors him, looking back in confusion. “Seb mentioned… I mean, I’m sure you have practice and stuff, right? I’m just saying we could… work around it? Did Seb lie to me? I can never tell anymore when he’s messing with me.” She’s rambling, mistaking Sam’s grateful gaze as amusement. He grants her a bit of mercy, shaking his head, both for her benefit and also to rid his mind of the words  _ “Mia’s pretty cute, you know”.  _

“No, he wasn’t messing with you, I just figured I could rearrange the band schedule once I know how long I’ll be here. I mean, my mom doesn’t even want me doing the band anymore, so I’m sure she’ll love that my weekends are taken up now--”

“What, why? No, don’t give up on the band, Seb said you’ve been working on it for years!” Sam watches her, eyes wide. “Look, I’ll only need you for a few hours on the weekends, I’m sure. I’m usually home those days, taking care of things around the house and planning for the upcoming week. You should keep your band schedule! Practice here if you don’t want your mom to be on your case about it!” The way she’s speaking, it makes Sam feel like she’s completely determined to help him even though she’s never even heard him play. 

He’s confused, so utterly confused. Seb and Abby, they’re both so nonchalant about the band at times, asking for rescheduling and bailing on practice if they’re busy. He knows they love him and the dedication he has to the band, so he can’t really ever be mad that they don’t exactly feel the same way. He understands, but he’d always wished they could care just a little bit more. And now, there’s someone who’s wholeheartedly cheering for him, and they barely know each other. 

“Wait… seriously?” Mia nods, pointing in the direction of the stairs.

“I’m not really using the second floor for anything in particular -- there’s a guest bedroom on one side and a kind of open space on the other. It’s not huge or anything, but you’re totally welcome to use it! It’s the least I can do for you helping me -- I mean, obviously I’m paying you, but I don’t want this to be some weird employer/employee thing.” She pauses, realizing that she might be coming off a bit overzealous. Pushing her food around her plate nervously, she adds on to her rant quietly. “I’d like us to be friends, if that’s okay.” She doesn’t see that Sam is openly staring now, the words  _ “Mia’s pretty cute, you know” _ bouncing around in his head like a mantra.

“I’d like that too, Mia.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh gosh, i really hope you guys like how im building sam's character! i dont want him to always be stressed and annoyed since he is a fun, carefree boi, but i also want to show that hes got more going on than people know -- also, id love to hear what you think of mia's character too! i havent totally figured her out yet tbh


	5. An Impromptu Farm Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia shows Sam around and makes him an offer he can't refuse [although he does try really hard]

Just around noon on Friday morning, Mia’s attempting to hook a freshly crafted sprinkler to the rig that Robin helped her set up last summer. She’d been sitting in the dirt wriggling around with the sprinkler, trying and retrying to get all the valves locked in properly, but today just isn’t her day apparently. Just as she’s pulling her wrench against the outside bolt, begging the thing to just  _ stay in the rig this time,  _ she hears a low whistle from the entrance to her farm. Turning her head, she finds Sam, who’s appreciating the property in the light of a new day. She isn’t expecting him until Tuesday, so this is a welcome surprise.

“This place is insane, Mia. You did all this?” Mia gets distracted for a moment too long, smiling shyly at the praise from her new friend, but it’s enough. Accidentally pulling too hard on the wrench, it slips off the bolt and the sprinkler pops out of the rig. The force of her pull suddenly having nothing to latch onto sends her flying backwards into the dirt, her shoulder pushing down on the nozzle that controls the water flow. Suddenly there’s an open hose swinging around like a rogue snake, spraying water in every direction.

Shrieking loudly, Mia doesn’t even notice Sam running to help her, too focused on trying to pin the damn hose down. It takes well over five minutes to get control of the situation, leaving both of them breathing heavily on the ground, soaked to the bone. Sam lets himself fall all the way back, an arm thrown over his eyes as he wonders if every day on the farm will be like this. Glancing over at an equally drenched Mia, he can’t help but laugh.

“Maybe I should start leaving clothes here, too, if we’re going to keep meeting like this. You know, size-appropriate ones.” Mia laughs loudly before looking down at him, his head surrounded by now-ripe parsnips like a weird crop halo. She’s about to tell him that his entire back is going to be covered in wet dirt when he gets up, but she’s interrupted by an irritated cluck.

Shane the Demon Chicken is coming over to inspect the situation, clearly unhappy with all the ruckus. Making its way over to stand just above Sam’s head, they make eye contact, Sam tilting his head up to see.

“Who’s this?” In response, Shane leans down hard, pecking at Sam’s forehead in a way that hurts even Mia. Sam slaps his hand over his forehead, groaning. “What the fuck was  _ that _ for, you little shit?” Mia takes Shane into her lap, pointing a scolding finger at it.

“Shane, I thought we agreed not to attack people. I know I raised you, but if you can be nice to me, you can be nice to everyone.” The bird clucks at her, and Sam has a strange feeling that he’s actually watching them argue right now. 

“You named your asshole chicken  _ Shane _ ?” Mia nods at him, gesturing to the bird in her lap. 

“It fits, right?” Sam stares into one of its beady red eyes before nodding, rubbing at the red spot above his eyebrow.

“But aren’t all chickens that lay eggs female?” Mia nods again, clearly having already thought of this.

“Oh yeah, this is definitely a girl, but she doesn’t mind that her namesake is a grumpy old man -- do you, Shane?” The bird clucks again, making Sam think that maybe Mia’s trained her chickens to talk or something. “Much like Miso, Shane doesn’t like very many other living beings, so don’t take it personally -- oh, except for my cow, apparently. She loves Choccy. No idea why.” Everything Mia’s saying sounds completely absurd out of context, but Sam can tell even now that she cares deeply about her farm and her animals. She’s taken a lot of time to bond with them, that much is clear. Sam watches as Mia argues with the black chicken, lost in her own world, and he smirks.

“So… Shane, huh?” Mia looks down at him and cocks an eyebrow. Sam’s smirk becomes almost evil. “You can see why it’s easy for me to misunderstand your relationship with him, right?” Mia scoffs, running her hand over the bird’s plumage. She’s quiet for a moment, and Sam thinks maybe he’s offended her, but she tilts her head to squint up at the sky as she responds. 

“To be honest, it was really hard to make friends when I first got here. I mean, I met Seb pretty early on, and through visiting him I became close with Maru, too, but that took a long time. I guess I was so focused on trying to get my farm started and proving to myself that I could actually do this… I didn’t really prioritize making friends. But I would run into Shane every morning while he was on his way to work, and even though he definitely wanted nothing to do with me for a while, I guess he just got used to me.” Mia pauses to look down at Shane, holding her arm steady as the chicken latches on. It climbs shakily over her before heading in the direction of who Sam can only assume is Choccy, the brown calf having just appeared in search of grass to munch on. The cow notices movement in the grass, relaxing only when Shane makes herself known and sits beside her without any acknowledgment. 

“One day, at the beginning of fall, I walked into my coop and found this black, spotted chicken egg, so I took it down to Marnie’s because what the fuck is a black chicken egg? Where does it come from? I didn’t know shit about chickens at the time.” Sam chuckles, sitting up and cringing at how wet the back of his head feels. 

“So, Shane helped you hatch an evil chicken and now you’re best friends.” Mia laughs, nodding as she stands, offering Sam her hand and helping him up. Brushing off the back of her pants, she beckons him in the direction of the coop. 

“That pretty much sums it up. So, no, there’s nothing going on with me and Shane. I’m just the annoying brat that goes out of her way to bother him every day.” Sam follows behind, hands in his pockets.

“I’m sure that’s not true. Shane’s notoriously hard to get through to, so he must really like you. Otherwise he wouldn’t even give you the time of day.” Mia smiles bitterly, and Sam wonders why she doesn’t believe him. 

Standing at the door to the coop, Mia scans the area around them before pointing out at a white chicken. There’s another not too far away.

“That’s Chickie, and that one over there’s Peckito. They’re a lot nicer than Shane, I promise.” Sam looks between the two of them with uncertainty.

“How will I know which one’s which?” Mia shrugs, smiling innocently up at Sam. 

“No clue — wanna meet Choccy?” She walks away, Sam following with a shake of his head. The brown calf eyes him nervously as she hides behind Mia, but she relaxes when Mia takes Sam’s hand and places it gently on the side of Choccy’s head. 

“See? Sam’s a friend. You don’t have to be scared of him.” Sam lets Mia run his hand along the cow’s spine, focusing much more on the warmth of her hand than he realizes. He doesn’t even notice Mia talking to him until she nudges him with her elbow. 

“Did you hear my big plan, Meyer?” He blinks down at the farm girl, shaking his head.

“Sorry, I was bonding with Choccy.” He nudges her back when she laughs. “Don’t be jealous, we’ll have our bonding time, too, Mia.” She puts on an offended air, yanking her hand from his to place it on her chest as she walks away.

“What, so that delicacy I served you last night wasn’t considered bonding time?” 

“Oh, I’m sorry, you mean that plate of admittedly delicious spaghetti? Not quite. But you’re on the right track! The easiest way to win me over for good is with food — preferably carbs.” Mia cackles, shaking her head with disbelief. How they’d only just become friends is starting to be one big mystery. Everything about Samson Meyer is endearing, Mia realizes, as she finds herself adoring him openly. 

“Okay, well don’t tell me what your favorite food is. I’m just going to keep feeding you until I find it.”

“You’re going to make me fat, Mia.” 

“Trust me, you’ll burn it off with all the work I’m gonna give you.” Sam tilts his head in slight confusion as he follows her to a shed, waiting for her to unlock it before ducking inside.

_ Is this what they call ‘sexual tension’?  _

“Oh, is  _ that  _ what this is?” Sam pales, meeting Mia’s eyes in panic. She’s got nothing but amusement in her eyes as she looks at him. 

“Oh Yoba, please tell me I didn’t say that out loud.” 

“I see what you think of me now, Samson. Is this a fantasy of yours? The employer/employee rolepl—“

“Holy shit,  _ please _ stop talking, it hurts!” They’re both laughing, and Sam thinks it’s unfair that he’s the only one visibly affected. He can see that Mia’s ears are red, but her naturally darker skin, aided quite a bit by the tan that’s built up over her time in Pelican Town, is preventing him from seeing what he’s looking for. He knows that he, however, looks like a fucking strawberry when he’s embarrassed. And this? This is embarrassment on steroids.

Mia points down at an open chest full of tools, deciding to spare Sam in all his glowing humiliation. Her own face is hot, the weight of Sam’s words creating a little burst of excitement in her stomach, and she’s almost desperate to move on. 

“You’re probably going to need this stuff at some point, so just know it’s here, okay? I have my own set of stuff, so feel free to use it all.” Gesturing around the room, she shows him the walls lined with kegs and wooden preserves jars. “Don’t worry about the timing on when these will be done, I’ll just let you know every morning what needs taking care of. It takes me ages to package the products from inside of these, so we’ll do it together.” Curiously, Sam moves to the closest one, asking silently for permission before opening the lid. It’s filled with what looks like blue jelly.

“Don’t ever bring Sebastian in here, okay? You’ll immediately be labeled Public Enemy #1.” Mia gasps, joining Sam and looking down at the blueberry jelly still processing. 

“Sebastian doesn’t like jelly? What kind of bullshit is that?”

“Or pickles. Actually, neither of us likes pickles but I don’t get as weird about it.”

“It’s like he’s not even human.” Sam makes a noise of agreement before looking at the wall near the door. The machines there are different.

“What do those make?” Mia hums as she glances at what he’s gesturing toward.

“Oh those are the cheese and mayo makers -- fun fact, the mayo that comes from the eggs I get from Shane every day is, like, black and kinda smell weird--”

“Okay, I’ve heard enough, thanks!” Looking up at Sam and seeing his face of disgust, Mia breaks out into laughter.

“Please tell me you’re not about to get weird about the mayo.” He looks down at her in disbelief, pointing at the mayo maker.

“Mayonnaise is atrocious and should be banned in every country. Just eat eggs like a normal person, no reason to go and ruin them by introducing this concoction from hell!” Mia watches Sam rant angrily about a simple condiment, making a note to never feed him anything with mayo in it.

“So… you don’t want to be in charge of packing the mayo?” Sam eyes her before slapping a hand down on the lid of the preserves jar.

“This right here is my new best friend. I’d rather package jelly alone and be here all day.” 

“Okay, okay, I hear you. I’ll take care of the mayo, Mister Mayo Hater. Just go into the coop and barn and collect the milk and eggs for me -- I’ll show you how. Oh, also pet them while you’re there because they’re sensitive and get grumpy if they don’t get their daily head pats.” Grabbing his shoulder and turning him toward the door, Mia plants her hands on his back, pretending that she doesn’t feel the muscles there flexing under her fingertips. Together they march out of the shed, Mia pointing toward the massive field of crops.

“So far I’ve only got about 75% of the place covered in sprinklers, so there will be days that I’ll have to leave you here to water the rest and take care of everything so I can go to the mines -- that okay?” Sam nods, knowing he can take care of things for her, but then he processes what she’s just said. 

“Wait--” He looks over his shoulder, where she’s still pushing him along toward the farmhouse. “-- you go to the mines? The super dangerous ones where people have died?” Mia sends him a quick  _ “mhm”,  _ cursing herself for telling him about it. She’d managed not to tell anyone about her little expeditions, and here she is telling Sam everything. He turns to face her quickly, her hands slipping off his shoulders and forcing her to faceplant right into his chest. He grabs her arms and moves her back so she can look up at him, and she’s just grateful he didn’t make another accidentally flirty remark -- she’s not sure she can handle much more of it today.

“Mia, you’re kidding, right? That’s crazy! You could get hurt down there!” He looks genuinely upset for someone who really hasn’t known her that long.

_ Time to file that away in the box labeled ‘cute things about Sam’. _

“Sam, seriously, it’s fine. I’ve been doing it for a year now, I promise I have it handled.” Sam sighs, releasing her.

“Well, don’t tell me when you’re going, because I won’t let you leave -- actually, wait. You  _ should  _ tell me, in case something happens. But if you tell me, I’m going to be worried and then--”

“Sam, it’s  _ fine _ ! Just trust me, okay? I won’t do anything to get hurt, I swear I’m careful. Now, can we please get going? I want to get this done before your mom gets home and sees us.” She realizes she hasn’t actually told Sam what her ‘big plan’ from earlier is until he gives her suspicious look. “Hey, stop that -- whatever you’re thinking right now, stop it, Samson Meyer!” His smirk is filled with mischief as he shrugs, turning toward the entrance to the farm.

“I didn’t say anything -- I just feel like if you wanted to seduce me, we could just do it here where we’re alone-hey!” He yelps when she pinches his arm and runs toward town, Mia in tow. It’s only when they’re passing through town square that he questions her plan. “What exactly is it that you don’t want my mom to catch us doing?” He avoids her pinching hand this time, well-aware that his wording would get to her again. 

“I  _ wanted  _ to move all your band stuff to my place before she sees and probably gives you a hard time over something that’s my idea, but you’re being insufferable so I might just let you get caught.” Sam stops, watching as Mia approaches his house as if it’s no big deal. As if she doesn’t keep surprising Sam with how much she cares and making him feel like the things he cares about actually matter. He’s only just met her, and he hates that it’s taken this long to have her in his life. 

\--

It takes them a little over an hour to lug everything through the forest and up to Mia’s house, the drum kit taking way too long and sending them sprawling across her floor in exhaustion once it’s finally done. Sam lets his head fall to the side to look at her after a few minutes.

“Hey, thanks again for letting me do this. Seriously, you have no idea how nice you are. Is there anything I can do to pay you back?” Mia waves him off, her eyes closed as she catches her breath. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’m just really glad to have your help around here. You honestly saved me a world of trouble. This place is way too much for one person, now. Oh--” She opens her eyes, turning onto her side to face him. “About your payment… is 5,000 gold a week okay? I can do more if it’s not enough.” Sam’s mind stalls, the number sitting in his head for the longest time before he’s sitting up, looking down at Mia incredulously.

“Per  _ week?  _ For real?” Mia sits up, much more slowly, as she considers his words.

“I can definitely do more, Sam… I know it’s a shit ton of work.” Sam shakes his head, unable to fathom how much money this girl could possibly make on the farm.

“Dude, that’s… that’s like a full  _ season  _ of paychecks at Joja. That’s a ridiculous amount of money. I was expecting like 500 gold  _ tops.”  _ Mia cocks an eyebrow, shaking her head.

“I don’t think you realize how hard it is keeping up with this place. Even now, there are days that I can’t get out of bed because I overworked myself the day before. I wouldn’t feel right giving you less than that. It’ll make itself back in harvests and jelly in no time, I promise.” Sam looks like he’s having a mental breakdown trying to do all the math in his head. He snaps his fingers, thinking of something suddenly.

“What about Shane, don’t you have to pay him, too? 10,000 gold is too much, even for you and your rich girl farm--” Mia’s jaw drops at his new name for her, and she sticks a leg out to push him over as she laughs in disbelief.

“Excuse you, I am  _ not  _ rich -- I spend all my gold on upgrades to one thing or another, so I’m basically always broke. I just happen to know that the cheese and  _ mayo  _ I process is high quality shit, and I’ll have your 5K ready every week.” She rolls her eyes when Sam pulls another face at the mention of mayo. “ _ Also,  _ Shane gets paid in food, so don’t try pulling that card on me. Just  _ take the money _ , Sam. Use it for… I don’t know, new equipment! Get a cool new music thingy that I know nothing about! I’m sure that’s expensive.” She gestures to the keyboard above her head, shrugging at it as if she has no idea what it does. Sam watches her for a moment, his eyes squinted and calculating.

“What?” Mia’s looking at him with insecurity now, paranoid about what’s happening in his head. He squints harder before responding.

“What are your boundaries for physical affection?” Her eyebrows furrow, and she squints suspiciously back at him.

“… Why?”

“Because I’m  _ this  _ close to tackling you and kissing your whole face. The whole thing.”

“ _ Sam!”  _ She kicks out at him as he reaches out to her, shrieking when he grabs her ankle and tugs, dragging her toward him just enough to make her laugh before letting go. “You just got here, and I already don’t know what to do with you.” He smiles boyishly, returning to his sprawled out form on the floor beside her. 

“I’ll take that to mean I can stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got a little carried away with this one so it's a bit longer! i'm kind of worried that im moving too fast with the romance, but hopefully it's not too much, just some playful banter! i'll try to make it more balanced from now on, but id love to hear your thoughts!!


	6. Sam's First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam's got a lot going on at home, but he tries his best to take care of Mia's farm for the first time

_ 5:42 am. Is this even a real time? _

Sam blinks at the neon green clock shining back at him from the face of the microwave. He hadn’t even bothered to turn on the kitchen light, pouring his cereal in the dark -- not that his eyes were fully open at the time anyway. He watches the time change to 5:43 and shovels another spoonful of sugary goodness into his mouth, regretting every decision that’s led him to this exact moment of pure torture.

“You’re up early.” The light flicks on over his head, and Sam closes his eyes as he prepares himself for the conversation. 

“‘Morning, dad.” Kent pads into the kitchen, heading straight for the coffee maker.

_ Fuck. Coffee. Why didn’t I think of that? _

“Are you just waking up or going to bed like that friend of yours tends to?” Sam sighs, thinking that it is  _ way  _ too early for this shit. 

“His name’s Sebastian, dad. It hasn’t changed in the time you’ve been gone.” It’s a risky move, being this snippy to a father that’s just returned from the military and has the term ‘respect’ burned into his very being, but it’s really,  _ really  _ early. And this isn’t the same father he remembers. After all, it’s been quite a few years.

“You didn’t answer my question, son.” The way he says ‘son’ has changed, too. Less familial, more authoritative. Sam hates it. His eyes flick over to the microwave as he stands, noting that it’s 5:44 as he puts his bowl in the sink.

“Just waking up, dad. Gotta go, see you later.” He’s grabbing his skateboard from the wall by the door when Kent calls out to him.

“Don’t forget that tomorrow’s your brother’s birthday. Get him something nice.” Sam stills, his hand on the doorknob. He’d almost made it out the door, he really had. Turning to face his father and looking him in the eye for the first time in at least a few days, Sam barely notices that the clock on the wall next to Kent’s head is chiming 5:45.

“Dad, Vincent’s going to be 10 tomorrow. Did you realize that?” Kent looks confused, an expression so blissfully ignorant that Sam’s blood boils almost against his will. “Vincent is going to be 10, dad. For 6 of those 10 years,  _ I  _ raised him. Not you. So don’t tell me not to forget his birthday because, to be honest with you, that’s what I wanted to say to  _ you.  _ I get that you were away fighting a war, and I’m really happy you’re home safe and sound. I also get that you and mom think I’m still a child and that I have a lot left to learn about life, but there are some things  _ you  _ missed out on, too. So, please don’t tell me how to take care of my baby brother, because at this point, I’m more of a dad to him than you are.” 

Kent’s brow furrows, his jaw locking as he listens to Sam’s unfiltered rant, and Sam knows he’s really done it this time. He’d been avoiding his dad for days, knowing that they no longer are on the same page about anything and that almost every conversation between them had been tense since Kent’s return to Pelican Town. But this is  _ Vincent  _ they’re talking about -- this is a line he can’t let his dad cross.

Slamming his hand down on the doorknob, Sam keeps his eyes locked with Kent’s as he backs out of the silent darkness of the house into the chilly air of the spring morning. He only breaks eye contact once he clears the frame and lets the door swing shut between them. There’s something symbolic there, he can tell, but he doesn’t want to think about it. Glancing down at his phone, he swears under his breath when he sees that it’s almost 6.

\--

It’s 6:10 when Mia leaves the bathroom dressed and ready for the day. Her morning schedule, meticulously built and perfected over the last year, has her opening the kitchen cabinets just as the coffee maker is beeping, signaling the completion of a fresh pot. Pulling two mugs out, she fills them carefully, talking to Miso as she does so.

“I know you don’t love it when I leave for the day, but I really need to head to the mines if I’m going to get those sprinklers ready.” She rolls her eyes when the grey fur ball whines at her. “Yeah, I know, but I really do need to make more! I can’t let poor Sam water the crops the entire time he’s working with us -- that shit’s hard on your back, you know.” Mia doesn’t hear the door open slowly behind her, too busy pouring her homemade coffee creamer into her cup.

“‘Morning, Miso.” Mia jumps, swearing as she spills a bit of cream on the countertop. Spinning around, she sees Sam crouched beside Miso’s food bowl, offering him a cautious hand. Miso sniffs at it for a while, finally licking Sam’s palm exactly once before retreating to his safe space under the table. Sam glances up at her, his eyebrows raised. “That felt like progress.” 

“You’re early. I’m surprised.” Mia says it as she’s holding the second mug of coffee out to him, offering the cream and mason jar filled with homemade sugar to him with a tilt of her head toward the countertop. He takes the cup from her, staring down at the black liquid for a moment before setting it on the table, ignoring Mia’s look of complete confusion as he reaches over, plucking her own mug from her hand, and setting it down next to his. Closing his fingers around her wrist, he pulls her in, resting his chin on her shoulder as he envelops her in his arms. 

Mia freezes, processing that Sam is hugging her for no apparent reason. Placing her hands on his back, she rubs small circles into his shirt when he pulls her closer for a fraction of a second. “You like coffee that much?” She feels him snort, wondering if maybe they’ve been hugging for a bit too long, but if there’s one thing she knows about hugs, it’s that the hug-ee should never pull away before the hug-er is ready. 

“Yeah, man. I fucking love coffee.” There’s something in his voice that’s off, but Mia decides not to push it. When he pulls back, his face is bright -- his eyes are another matter entirely, but he’s trying. He looks exactly like everyone describes him to be : a source of sunshine, carefree and bright.

“Well, consider it part of your employment benefits -- free coffee whenever you want it.” Sam smiles as he takes his coffee to the counter to add his cream and sugar. He can’t drink it black like Sebastian does. He’s not a psychopath. “Free hugs, too, whenever you need them.” It’s said almost jokingly, but Sam can tell that Mia has the embarrassing ability to see right through him, so he turns with an obnoxious smirk.

“ _Only_ when I need them?” Mia rolls her eyes, turning to put her work boots on when she feels her ears flush. Sam takes a sip of his coffee, appreciating the much needed caffeine with a sigh of contentment afterward. “I actually wanted to get here earlier to get a head start on the watering, but, uh…” He pauses, not sure how to continue.

_ I got into a weird half-argument with my dad and then kind of slammed the door in his face, maybe?  _

“My morning poop took longer than usual.” Mia looks up at him from where she’s crouched on the floor, and Sam blinks down at her like he didn’t just say something totally stupid. 

“Same.” Sam’s taking an awkward sip from his mug when she responds, and he ends up snorting so hard he splashes hot coffee all over himself. She’s laughing openly at him as he wipes his face with a paper towel. Shaking his head, he downs the rest of the coffee before setting the mug on the counter, thinking to himself that he’ll definitely need more later. He turns to her, smiling when he sees that she’s still chuckling, clearly pleased with herself. He heads for the door, propping it open with his arm and waiting for Mia to pass under it before stepping outside. 

“Where have you been all my life, Mia?” She shrugs playfully as she hops off the porch, swinging a backpack over her shoulder when she lands.

“My sister always says that people come into your life when you need them most. Just admit you need me, Samson.” He tilts his head slightly as he steps off the porch. 

“Sister?” She looks away from him, squinting out over the field at her crops with a slight grimace. Sam takes note of the look on her face, thinking that he’s seen that glimpse of Mia’s soul too often in the few days he’s known her for it to be just a coincidence that her expression’s changed. Maybe he can see her, too.

“Yeah, I have a sister -- twin, actually. She still lives in the city.” She’s smiling again, and Sam wonders if it’s this painfully obvious when he’s bluffing.

“A twin? That’s kinda sick, Mia -- she as pretty as you?” Mia laughs, a real one. Sam feels a weird kind of pride at having been the cause.

“Alright, Meyer, you clearly are not awake yet, so feel free to drink that entire pot in there. I’m gonna head out. I have to go to--” She cuts herself off, pursing her lips and smiling guiltily when he sends her a warning glance. “I have to go places that I’m not allowed to disclose to you apparently.” Sam opens a chest next to the stairs, groaning when he hears her. Pulling out a milk pail, he swings it up to point at her menacingly. 

“You better be really fucking careful, Mia. I’m not man enough to go down there for you.” She pushes the pail out of her face with a laugh. 

“Don’t worry, Seb knows to call someone if I’m not out by midnight.”

“Midnight?! Wait-- Seb knows?!” 

“Uh… no? I have to go now!” Sam yells after her as she rushes to the northern entrance of her farm, calling back to him to say hi to the chickens for her. 

\-- 

Sam stares down at the watering can in his hand, wondering if it’s a little  _ too  _ dramatic to turn the thing over on his head and let it soak him. Then he looks up at the ruthless sun before deciding that, no, it’s not too dramatic. 

After almost 15 minutes of trying to figure out how to milk Choccy, a full-grown cow at this point, he’d given up and decided to just talk to her. She’d looked really annoyed, and he confesses that he hadn’t been paying complete attention when Mia had showed him on Friday how to do it. 

_ “You try focusing when her ass is right in front of you like that! Have you seen her, Choccy? Clearly not, since you’re judging me right now.”  _ Sam still wonders if maybe Mia’s figured out how to communicate with her animals, and, in his overheated, delusional mind, hopes Choccy doesn’t tell Mia about his indiscretion. He looks over at the cow, munching happily on some grass across the farm, and he’s just glad he finally figured out how to milk her. He couldn’t have Mia coming to save his ass on the first day. 

His time in the coop had been much easier, the eggs and chicken feed easily accessible, but Shane the Demon Chicken still doesn’t like him very much, if chasing him out of the coop had been anything to go by. He’d placed the animal products in a chest next to the mayo machine in the shed, jumping angrily when the thing finished processing an egg from the day before and dinged loudly, scaring the shit out of him. 

His attempt at harvesting crops was… certainly an attempt, but after pulling a parsnip from the ground without actually pulling the  _ parsnip  _ out for the 5th time, he’d decided that he’d rather ask Mia for help than risk her entire income on his stubborn independence. 

Almost midday now, Sam’s drenched in sweat, slowly making his way through the crops and watering the ones that aren’t ready as well as the ones that yield more than one harvest -- he has to keep checking his phone for the list that Mia had sent him with the crops that harvest once and the ones that he should keep watering, but by the time he’s halfway done, he’s memorized it. 

_ Strawberries, coffee, green beans, cauliflower’s almost done -- wait, these potatoes look done. Should I not water them? What if they’re not done, though? When did she plant them? Should I water them just in case? Maybe I should wa-- _

“Honey, I’m talking to you!” Turning around and almost tripping on a potato, Sam looks to the southern end of the farm, not having realized that his mom has been making her way toward him, tupperware in hand. Confused, he sets the watering can on the ground where he’s standing -- so he can remember later where he left off, of course -- and meets her halfway.

“Mom? What’s up?” 

“Just wanted to bring you lunch, honey, and see how you’re first day’s going!” She holds out the tupperware to him, and he takes it, raising it to eye level. There’s a sandwich inside, made and arranged nicely as if it’s Vincent’s lunch. The crust is even cut off. He looks down at her, seeing that she’s peering around at the farm, much too curious, much too judgmental. Much too Jodi. He shuts his eyes, sighing once, before responding.

“Thanks, mom, I appreciate it. But I don’t really understand.” She looks up at him, concerned. “You’re the one that told me I have to become more independent and take care of myself, but you just brought me lunch, and you’re checking in on me. This is just for today, right?” His mom looks offended, and Sam has to stop himself from sighing again.

“What, I’m not allowed to check on my son?”

“You don’t check on me when I’m at Joja.”

“It wouldn’t look good for me to check on you at work!” Sam raises an eyebrow at her wording. 

“You don’t think I’m working right now?” Jodi rolls her eyes, taking the tupperware from him and removing the lid before holding half of the sandwich up to him. He moves his head away in annoyance. “Look around, mom. This isn’t a walk in the park, you know. I’m actually working and getting paid to do this work, so what’s the difference between this and Joja?”

“Honey, I’m glad you’re getting up early and helping Mia out on her farm, but--”

“But what, mom? Why can’t you just decide what you want? Do you want me to be independent and take care of myself, or do you want to baby me? Because this is an  _ actual job  _ that pays  _ actual money _ , and just because it’s not some 9 to 5 at a company in the city, it doesn’t mean I’m not working. You don’t think it’ll look bad for Mia to see you dropping in to distract me?” 

He feels weird, arguing with both of his parents in one day, but he feels like he’s losing his mind. His family situation is nowhere near as bad as Sebastian’s, and his responsibilities are nothing compared to Abby’s, but he can’t shake the suffocating feeling that comes up whenever his parents start in on him. Whenever they hover and hound him to have his life together. His mom had even cheered when she’d noticed the instruments missing from his room on Friday, not bothering to ask what he'd done with them. He’d seen then that she really had never supported his dreams, only tolerated them. 

His mom looks almost hurt, but if there’s one thing Jodi’s known for in Pelican Town, it’s keeping appearances. She wouldn’t sacrifice the image of her perfect life with her perfect family for something like  _ emotion.  _ No wonder Sam doesn’t make the cut. 

“Samson Bennett, you are being so dramatic right now. Mia wouldn’t mind me dropping in at all. Where is she now? Let me say hi.”

“She’s not here.” Jodi stops searching the farm for its owner, looking up at him in alarm.

“She left you to take care of the  _ whole place? _ ” Sam’s not sure if she’s impressed with the responsibility he’s taken on, or if she’s just insulting him at this point, but he plants his hands on his mother’s shoulders, spinning her around to face the forest she entered from. 

“Go home, mom. I’m working.” 

\-- 

When Mia treks back through the northern entrance around 4pm, grimy and exhausted, she’s surprised to see that Sam’s done really well on his first day. Everything’s watered, and the animals seem taken care of. She does notice, however, that nothing’s been harvested, but the reason for that is not far away.

“Stupid fucking parsnip, are you mocking me? Is this fun for you? You’re teasing me, I can feel it -- not a word from you, demon chicken! I don’t need your input!” Sam’s crouched in front of a row of parsnips, a pile of leaves accumulated next to him. Shane the chicken sits close by, clucking at him every few seconds as if she’s giving him farming tips. Mia approaches him from behind, looking down at the failed attempts at pulling up her harvest. 

“I heard that if you say _nice_ things to plants, they’ll grow better.” Sam yelps, accidentally yanking off another set of leaves from a parsnip as he looks over his shoulder at her.

“Hey, you’re back! Nice to see you’re alive.” He looks disgruntled, in a way that can only be in part due to his current project, but Mia only focuses on the bit that’s caused by her parsnips.

“I didn’t expect you to still be here when I got back, but here you are destroying my crops.” He frowns, looking sadly down at the leaves next to him.

“I really wanted to do it right -- I even googled it for like an hour! But… obviously nothing’s working.” Mia smiles, dropping her backpack and crouching beside him.

“Well, first of all, these parsnips aren’t ready.” Sam’s face drops, and he looks down at the row of crops in a panic.

“But -- but the other ones are! And these all look like the ones over there!” Mia nods, totally understanding his confusion.

“I made the same mistake my first harvest, it’s okay. These will be ready tomorrow, I’ll just dig them up the old fashioned way.” He looks so dejected, Mia feels bad having to break that news to him. “Did you have any luck with the ones that are ready?” If possible, his frown only deepens.

“I’m really sorry, Mia. I just wanted to do everything you needed me to do.” Mia looks down at herself, grimacing at her coal-covered shirt, but when she looks Sam over and sees that he’s also completely dirty and sweaty, she figures he won’t care too much. Leaning into him for balance, she wraps her arms around his shoulders, her cheek against his temple. She’s still in her crouch next to his seated form, so it’s a bit awkward, but she  _ did  _ say he could have hugs whenever he needs them.

“It’s your first day, Sam, don’t beat yourself up. It’s taken me the better part of a year to get everything figured out. And look--” She unwraps an arm to point out toward her coop and barn, and she says nothing about the arm that slips around her waist to steady her when she becomes unbalanced. “My animals look happy! Usually Choccy gets grumpy if she’s not milked, so I can tell you did that right.” Her arm sweeps out over the field, and Sam basically has to sit her in his lap so she doesn’t topple over. “And I bet you watered the crops properly and totally took care of this place while I was gone -- and nothing went up in flames!” He laughs at her antics, gesturing down at the sad row of parsnips.

“But your harvest…” Mia shrugs, standing and pulling Sam up with her. 

“It really isn’t a big deal, Sam. I’ll show you the right way to do it, since apparently google did not help you, and then when you get here on Thursday, the cauliflower should be ready. We’ll do those together -- you’ll get it in no time, I promise!” She drags him over to the row of parsnips that are actually ready for harvesting, leaving their hands linked as they go. Sam says nothing of it, but he certainly notices. 

They work together as the sun starts to set, Mia showing Sam the proper way to pull the parsnips from the ground, using the bits of leaf still left on each one after Sam’s tragic attempt. They don’t even notice that it’s been quite some time, too busy walking around the farm together, Mia pointing out things that Sam’s done well and giving tips on ways to do some things better. Sam feels validated, like his work was actually successful in some way. Even with certain tasks he hadn’t done perfectly, Mia’s kind, never making him feel like he’s failed her in some way, only offering fun stories of her own first experiences with them. 

It isn’t until Shane’s trudging through the entrance to her farm, a six pack of Joja cola in his hand, that either of them realize how late it’s getting. The older man looks them over, a smirk on his face.

“We could reschedule our dinner plans if you’re busy.” Sam thinks he hears a hint of something teasing when Shane says the word 'busy', and it makes the tips of his ears turn a shade of red that even the sun hasn’t burned into his skin yet. Mia apparently has also heard it, if the brush of red across her cheeks is telling Sam anything. He points over his shoulder toward the forest awkwardly.

“I should head home, huh?” Mia nods, waving at him with a smile.

“Thanks again, Sam, really. I’ll see you on Thursday?” 

“Hopefully before then.” Shane snorts at Sam’s obvious flirt, shaking his head at the fact that Mia probably doesn’t even realize that he’s being a little  _ too  _ friendly. For being unnaturally observant when it comes to other people, Shane has found that Mia’s almost painfully oblivious sometimes. Sam looks at Shane in slight confusion, and Shane is exasperated at the idea that Sam’s just as bad. Sam waves again before heading off, leaving Mia to glare lightly at her best friend. 

“You just love being frustrating, don’t you?” Shane raises his eyebrows at her, shaking his head with a little snort of disbelief.

“You really are one to talk, aren’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you like this update!! i'm wondering if i should keep doing this sort of daily progression or speed things up a little bit with some time skips -- lmk if you want to see it one way or another!!


	7. Vincent's Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam spends time with Vincent, and Mia visits the Meyer residence the next day.

Sam watches with stinging eyes as his phone turns from 11:59 on Tuesday to midnight on Wednesday. After he’d gotten home from the farm, gross and exhausted, it had taken everything in him not to fall asleep at dinner _or_ in the shower. He even had to sneak a cup of coffee past his parents just so he could make it to midnight — and he was very determined to make it to midnight.

He knows he can just give Vincent his birthday gift in the morning, and that it’s probably the wiser choice given just how beaten up Sam feels. He also knows his parents would absolutely kill him if they were to find out that he’s waking up his little brother in the middle of the night, but the first birthday of double digits only comes once. 

So, with the stealth of a clumsy calf — and Sam knows exactly what that looks like now — he opens his door and pads into the hall, a wrapped package under his arm. He’s wondering how to wake Vince without scaring the crap out of him, but when he moves to the door just around the corner, he realizes that it’s apparently been figured out for him.

Opening the door just enough to slip through, Sam finds a bundle of blankets, suspiciously round and suspiciously well-lit considering blankets don’t usually come with their own lighting. Smiling fondly at Vincent’s terrible attempt to hide a flashlight, Sam clears his throat quietly and deepens his voice for added effect.

“Young man, have you any idea what time it is?” The boy huddled under the blankets jumps violently, a pink head of hair poking out in a panic. Vincent’s wide eyes become relieved before disappearing into little half-moons, a bright smile overtaking his face.

“Sam, you scared me! I thought you were dad for a second.” Sam holds a finger up to his lips quickly, warning him not to yell so late at night. He gestures for Vincent to move over before joining him on the comically small bed. 

“Whatcha doin’, Vince? You know mom and dad want you in bed by 9.”

“I _am_ in bed.” Sam chuckles, remembering a time when he also thought himself to be so clever. Vince reaches under his blanket, pulling out a notebook and handing it to his brother before shining his flashlight down on it. “It’s an adventure book for me and Jas.” Sam flips through it, examining the drawings inside. Every page has two stick figures, one clearly Vincent and one clearly Jas, going on different adventures. There’s a dragon on one page, a troll on the next. There’s even a drawing of the forest entrance to the town sewer system, which is odd, considering the rest of the pictures are mythical creatures or fairy tales. Vince points to that one excitedly. 

“Me and Jas, we heard something moving around in there the other day! Maybe when we get brave, we’ll go down there and see what it is.” Sam’s not sure he wants his brother poking around in the sewers, but he figures he’ll get to that if it ever comes up again. Vincent flips to another page, explaining in detail to Sam all the plans he has for every day of the week. Sam listens carefully, smiling at the idea that, even though Vince doesn’t do too well in school or even show an interest in real life, he has the most active imagination Sam has ever seen. It’s a gift, really — enough of one that he can never bring himself to do anything but support the kid, even if he does have a D- in spelling. 

“An adventure for every day, huh? You might need something to help you out along the way.” Vincent looks up at his brother, eyes large and innocent. Sam only reaches over to where he’d set the wrapped package beside him, moving it into Vincent’s lap. “Happy birthday, little dude. I hope it’s helpful.” Vince rips into the paper curiously, producing a fairly large and heavy book. He looks it over with sparkling eyes, small noises of enthusiasm escaping him every few moments. Sam sighs in relief, knowing that his brother is about to get very distracted. After all, adventure guides are rare in a place like Pelican Town. 

Vincent had hinted at his interest in adventuring a few weeks back, and Sam had scoured the depths of the internet every day since then to find something that would fuel that passion. He’d even asked Seb to look at the dark web for him, but his friend had simply given him a deadpan look before claiming that Sam clearly had no idea what the dark web was for. Seb _had,_ however, helped Sam search for something cool, and together they’d come across an old bookstore in the city that was clearly meant to attract fans of fantasy books and mythical creatures. Sam had gone after work last week, making the long journey there and back for what is essentially a massive tome, now sitting in Vincent’s lap. 

“This is so sick!” Sam beams at his brother’s obvious attempt to copy his own speaking style, and he reaches over to ruffle his hair as Vince flips through the book. It’s tattered and old, meant to look like an adventurer’s long lost field guide. It’s also quite advanced, but not so much that Sam had felt Vince wouldn’t be able to use it. Every page is filled with lore of some sort, endless information about things that seem pretty cool to Sam and even cooler to Vince, based on the way the kid keeps pointing at pictures and gasping. 

“Think me and Jas could find one of those?” Sam thinks it’s highly doubtful that they would ever find a mountain troll in the forest, but Vince is basically vibrating with excitement, so he lets it slide.

“You know, there’s a lot of big words in this thing, so you might need to really spend some time with it, but I figured if anyone was up for the challenge, it’d be you.” Vince nods furiously. 

“Is it okay if I write in it? I want to make lotsa notes and stuff!” Sam pretends to think about it.

“Yeah, I guess that should be alright. Just don’t tell the adventurer I got it from.” 

“An adventurer? A real adventurer?!” Vincent’s back to a volume that would definitely get them in huge trouble, so Sam clamps his hand over his mouth. 

“You gotta be quiet, Vince! You don’t want mom and dad finding out about this adventurer, do you?” A hum and a shake of his head tells Sam he’s free to let go. 

“But, but—“ Vincent leans in really close and starts to whisper dramatically. “Can you tell me about this adventurer?” Sam copies him, knocking his forehead lightly against his brother’s. 

“One day, Vince, but only once you’ve gone through their notes.” He taps gently on the open book, prompting Vincent to return his attention to his gift. Sam watches him as he reads, exhaustion catching up with him again in the silence of the dark room — he’s having fun, though, so he figures he can stay with his brother a few more minutes. Leaning his head back against the wall, he closes his eyes, enjoying the company. 

“Hey, Sammy?” Sam’s eyes fly open immediately, flicking over to Vincent’s form. He hasn’t called Sam that since before his dad left for the war, having declared at the time that he had to be ‘a grown up’, barely 4 years old. The fact that the name’s resurfaced leaves Sam deeply unsettled. 

“What’s up, bud?” Vincent almost looks up at him, but decides at the last second to just look in his general direction. 

“Are you happy that dad’s home?” Sam sits up, officially alarmed. Had he heard them fighting that morning, or maybe even just noticed that things were weird between them? 

“Of course I’m happy, Vince. You know we’re lucky to have him back, safe and okay.” A nod of a pink head, and then complete silence. “Are _you_ happy that dad’s home?” Vincent nods immediately, but there’s a pause that follows it that makes Sam think maybe he feels like he had to say yes. His heart drops at the idea that his baby brother is, for the first time in his life, filtering himself. “You know you can tell me anything, right? I’ve always got your back.” More silence, this time ended by a quiet sniffle. 

“It’s just —“ Vincent hesitates, only continuing when Sam wraps an arm over his shoulder. “He seems… different. He’s not the same.” Sam shuts his eyes, swearing internally. He had _really_ hoped Vincent wouldn’t notice the change in their father, but kids are always dangerously perceptive. “I mean, he always wants to play with me and stuff, which I like a lot because I missed him so much, but… it’s not like it is when me and you play. He’s really… he gets really worried that somethin’s gonna happen to me, I think.” Sam hums in confusion, and it’s enough to prompt Vince to continue. “Like when I fall and stuff, you’re always cool about it unless it’s bad. But when I fall around dad, he freaks out… kinda. I don’t know. I feel kinda like a baby when he does that.” Sam nods along, having picked up a few times that Kent had been really sensitive to Vincent’s safety, but he hadn’t realized Vince would think anything of it. 

“Well, you know, he hasn’t seen you in so long, maybe he hasn’t figured out what a big kid you are now.” Vincent’s listening intently, so Sam tries _really_ hard to choose his words carefully. “All those years, he only remembered baby Vince, so he’s still getting to know big boy Vince, right?” He waits until it’s been processed before continuing. “Have you tried talking to him about stuff you learn when you’re in school? Or when you’re playing with Jas?” Vincent grimaces.

“I don’t like to talk about school — I’m no good at it.” Sam scoffs dramatically, leaning into him. 

“No way, dude, you’re super good at it. Anytime you come home and tell _me_ stuff, I feel like I’m learning all sorts of things! Maybe dad just needs to see how smart and cool you are now that you’re all grown up. Give it a try.” Vince nods, a little smile forming on his face. 

“Okay, I’ll try — but if he knows everything already, can I go back to telling you stuff only?” Sam chuckles, not even upset at having just been roasted by a 10-year-old. 

“Sure thing, Vince. You can keep telling your dumb big bro all about the stuff you learn.” Vincent smiles wide at him, the gap from his missing tooth making him seem all the more endearing. 

“No way, Sam, you know lots of cool stuff! Like about music and skateboarding — hey, will you teach me how to skateboard now that I’m big?” Sam thinks about it, guessing that he could probably find a way to swing it by his parents if he prepares enough. Rising from the bed and wincing when his back whines at him, he reaches down and pulls the flashlight from Vince’s hand, shining it down into his face. 

“Let me sleep on it, yeah? For now, you need to go to bed — for _real_ this time.” With that, he switches off the flashlight, waiting for Vince to climb under his blankets properly before whispering ‘good night’ and slipping back to his room. He says nothing about the fact that Vincent has decided to sleep with his new book under his pillow. 

Slipping into his own bed, Sam can barely keep his eyes open a moment longer, but he still finds himself reaching for his phone, pulling up a new note to look back at in the morning. 

  * _skateboard : look up kid sizes_


  * knee pads


  * elbow pads


  * helmet : small head?? 


  * new shoes???


  * neeeeeeekeafje38!;&hhdbbd



\--

Sam’s eyes crack open just after 10am, his phone on his chest. Glancing at it, he sees that he fell asleep while typing his note, the letters turning to nonsense at the end. His ears, having woken up long before his brain and forcing him to listen to the commotion happening outside his room, are already processing the conversation nearby. It’s the normal hustle and bustle of living in a family home with a 10-year-old, a stay-at-home mom with an addiction to cleaning, and an awkward dad with a voice he doesn’t realize can be heard from the fucking forest. Alright, so maybe they’re not that normal. 

There’s something out of place this morning, however, and it’s the sound of a girl in the living room — a girl much too old to be Jas and much too young to be Caroline. 

_Am I imagining this? Is this what extreme dehydration does to you?_

“Vincent, hi! Happy birthday, dude!” No, he definitely heard it that time. Practically falling out of bed, Sam slips on some pants over his boxers and reaches for his shirt, but everything hurts. _Everything_. And the idea of sliding a piece of cloth over his very sensitive shoulders sounds like his own personal form of hell, so he forgoes the shirt and slips into the hall. 

“Mia?” She’s sitting on the couch next to Vincent, reaching into her bag for something, but she looks up at the sound of Sam’s voice — and then her brain stops functioning for enough time that she wonders if she’s actually forgotten how to blink. 

Mia had always known Sam was lean — he’s tall and thin but can lift a drum kit with enough ease that it’s obvious he’s strong. And there’s something about the way his hair sits on his head in the morning -- generally much more flat than usual, but still sticking up in a lot of places like a crazy case of bedhead -- that makes him look unbelievably boyish and sweet. It seems, however, that the years of skateboarding and chasing his high-energy little brother around have had the opposite effect, because he’s not just tall, thin, lean -- he’s completely solid. He’s made of pure muscle -- not to the ridiculous extent that she’d noticed Alex always aims for, but muscle, apparently, that looks _very_ good on Sam Meyer. She also spies two tattoos -- one spanning the width of his left collarbone, the other something much smaller just above the inside of his right elbow -- and she notes as an afterthought that they contribute quite a lot to his skater boy guitarist aesthetic.

One look at Sam, however, tells her that he has no idea just how attractive he is. He’s scratching awkwardly at his neck, almost hunched in on himself, _almost_ insecure. But he’s been waiting for a response for about a minute now, and it’s finally clicking that she’s not ignoring him. She’s _staring_. When their eyes meet, his potential discomfort is replaced by a mischievous look, and for a second, Mia thinks he’s going to say something stupid like ‘enjoying the view?’, but he seems to realize they’re not alone. 

“‘Morning, Mom. Dad.” Sam looks at his father, who appears almost uncomfortable under his son’s gaze. Sam wonders if maybe he’d gone too far yesterday, but then he realizes he has nothing to be sorry for and looks away. “Let me just wash up, then I’ll join the party.” His eyes pass over Mia once more as he leaves the room, and he quirks an eyebrow playfully at her when he sees that she’s suddenly much more flushed than she was before. 

Inside the bathroom, Sam turns on the water to be as cold as humanly possible, both because it would soothe his pained skin and because he can’t think of a single time he’s been more flustered around Mia.

_Well, except for the time I said we had sexual tension out loud… or the time Maru told her that I have a small dick… or the time I said I was going to kiss her face -- why is my life a complete disaster?_

He turns the water off to listen to what’s happening outside while he washes up, and he finds that Mia is as considerate as she is cute.

 _Okay, I’m_ **_definitely_ ** _dehydrated._

“So, a little birdy told me you like grapes, Vincent!” 

“I love grapes!” Sam smiles at the innocent excitement in his brother’s voice.

“Okay, well, did you know I make jelly on my farm?”

“What kinds of jelly?”

“All kinds! I have a blueberry jelly going right now--”

“ _Blueberry_ jelly? That sounds crazy!”

“It kind of is! But you know what’s even crazier? That I’ve never made a grape jelly before.”

“What?! But grape jelly’s like… the original jelly!”

“I know, right? So, I have a little request for you, Vincent. Something I think only you can help me with.”

“Like a secret mission?”

“Heck yeah, dude. But, like, a secret mission for chefs. A very special role for secret mission chefs.” Sam chuckles as he runs his toothbrush under the water. Her words are starting to lose their meaning, but he knows Vincent will at least get it.

“Okay, I’m ready for my mission!”

“I need you to be my taste tester, Mister Vincent.”

“What’s a taste tester?”

“It’s a super important job that decides if I should keep the thing I make or throw it out. And that’s what I need you to help me decide with this.” Sam’s put the pieces together from the conversation, but it’s still nice to hear that Vince is surprised.

“Wow! Is this grape jelly?”

“Homemade and packaged this morning, just for my taste tester! I’m giving you this jar right here, and if you like it then I’ll give you another one as payment for completing your secret mission. But you can’t tell anyone that I gave it to you or else people will be mad at me for giving you free jelly -- you get it, right?”

“Totally, I won’t tell anyone! Can I taste it now? Do I have to wait?”

“Go ahead, I want to know what you think!” Sam finishes up in the bathroom and leaves just as Vincent’s running past to get a spoon. He holds up a mason jar of purple jelly when he sees Sam.

“A secret mission on my birthday! Isn’t this great?” Sam ruffles his hair and heads back into the living room, flopping down on the sofa next to Mia. He winces when the fabric rubs against his skin, and Mia turns to look him over with concerned eyes. 

“I have something for you, too.” Sam’s head lolls to the side so he can look at her, the playful look back in his eye.

“Excuse you, Miss Mia, we are in the presence of a child. And also my parents. This could get weird.” Jodi gasps at Sam’s forwardness, Kent clearing his throat uncomfortably. Mia pushes Sam away from her, pointing at him when he hisses at the pain on his shoulder.

“You deserved that. I brought you aloe vera, but you know, my all-in-one sunburn treatment might be just a little too precious for you--”

“Do you see me? I look like a strawberry -- no, I look like a strawberry that’s had a f--” He cuts himself off, glancing quickly at Vincent, who’s just come back into the room. “--freakin’ blowtorch raised to it.” Jodi gives Sam a warning glance, and the smile he returns is innocent. He turns back to Mia, leaning in close. “If you don’t hand over the goods, I will have to take it by force.” She snorts, pushing him away with her elbow as Vincent comes to sit next to Sam. He opens the jar excitedly and spoons a bit of jelly in his mouth, thinking very hard about his opinions as Mia has tasked him with something important. Finally, he meets her eyes, a huge smile overtaking his face.

“Miss Mia, can I be your taste tester for everything? This stuff is great!” Mia laughs, nodding good-naturedly.

“Of course you can, Vince, that’s why I recruited you!” Sam grins at the sight of Vince trying to take down a whole jar of jelly in one go before looking around the room. There’s a pink cake on the table, a few slices taken from it, and on the desk, a--

“Is that a _snail_?” Vincent perks up, pointing over to it.

“Yeah, dad got him for me, isn’t that great?” Sam cocks an eyebrow, giving his dad a nod of acknowledgment. Snails and other things caught in the tidepools had become a recent obsession of Vincent’s, so Kent must have really wanted to give him something he’d love and asked around. Sam can appreciate that, at least. 

“Alright, well make sure you feed him every day and pay him lots of attention so he doesn’t get lonely, okay?” As soon as it’s out of his mouth, he feels uncomfortable. He’s only recited what’s become natural to him over the years -- fatherly advice, a guarantee that Vince will take responsibility for the things he cares about. Vincent nods along, completely unaware of the tension that’s just been created between Sam and their father. Sam doesn’t even look at Kent, only nudging Mia and gesturing to his bedroom.

“Come on, I need to talk to you.” Mia’s heart drops when he says those words -- had she done something wrong? What could he possibly have to say to her? Standing from the sofa and slinging her bag over her shoulder, she smiles politely at Jodi and Kent and follows Sam through his bedroom door. Shutting it quietly behind her, she turns to face him.

“Sam, if you’re upset about something--”

“Upset? Why would I be upset?” He looks genuinely confused, but a little lightbulb goes off in his head when he sees how concerned she looks. “Oh! Oh, Yoba, no, I don’t actually have anything to talk to you about-- I just didn’t want you to whip out the aloe and have to lube me up in front of my parents.” Mia stares at him for a moment, sitting casually on his bed looking somehow both innocent and troublesome at the same time. She scoffs at him, moving to join him on the bed.

“When do you start work?”

“Noon.”

“It might not soak into your skin in time -- you okay with going into work all shiny and slippery?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” They last just until they make eye contact, and then Sam is leaning forward to put his elbows on his knees so he can hide his face in his hands while Mia laughs at him and his burned skin.

“You’re so crispy, Samson.” Sam groans loudly.

“Please just lube me up, I’m in so much pain.” Mia pulls the bottle of aloe from her bag and completely uncaps it, figuring this is no time for measured pumps. Pouring a solid amount into her hand, she tries her best to warm it before spreading it on Sam’s back, but he still squeals when she touches his shoulders.

“Holy mother of fuck, that shit’s cold!” He has no concern for the fact that he’s basically shrieking for the whole house to hear -- his skin is literally on fire.

“Okay, okay, calm down there. I promise it gets better.” Sam chuckles darkly.

“Yeah, my parents definitely think we’re messing around in here.” Mia childishly slaps more cold aloe down on his shoulder, to which he whimpers but keeps his mouth shut.

“Alright, crispy boy, tell me about your ink.” Sam’s leaning back on his hands now, giving Mia a full view of his tattoos. He holds a hand out to her, allowing her to pour some aloe into his hands before he starts rubbing it into his chest and torso. She targets his neck and ears, rather sensitive areas apparently because Sam hisses loudly when makes contact with his left ear.

“Fucking hell, I thought I’d put enough sunscreen on yesterday, but it feels like my ears are literally falling off.” She grimaces, feeling really bad for Sam. When she’d first arrived in Pelican Town, no one had been there to tell her how to take care of things like this, and she suffered a lot for a few weeks before figuring everything out herself. She remembers how painful this is, on top of the soreness he must be feeling in muscles he probably hadn’t even realized existed.

Sam waits until Mia’s released his ear before sending her a smirk.

“So you _did_ notice my ink when you were checking me out earlier -- I thought maybe you’d gotten so caught up in your obvious lust for me that you missed the important details--”

“Okay, _shut up_ , I was _not_ checking you out, Meyer. I was wondering how a person could burn so much in one damn day. You look like shit.” Sam cringes dramatically, clutching at his heart as she insults him.

“You are _not_ the nice farm girl I thought you were a week ago -- are you this mean to everyone, or just to unbearably attractive people like me--”

“Oh, you’re unbearable, but not in the way you think.” Sam grins evilly before wrapping his arms around her in a hug, essentially coating her in sticky aloe. “Samson!” 

“You said you wanted to see my ink!” It’s obnoxious, but Mia actually does have a clear view of the tattoo on Sam’s right arm -- it’s right in front of her face, after all. It’s extremely simple, the letters ‘VCM’ written in clean type font on the inside of his arm, just above the crook of his elbow. It’s traced with a pale reddish outline, almost pink.

“What’s this one mean?” Sam peers down at it, not even bothering to unlatch himself from around her. He answers like it’s as simple as reciting what he had for breakfast, straight to the point.

“Vincent’s middle name is Christopher.” He doesn’t need to elaborate, the initials printed on Sam’s skin clear as day, even outlined in his brother’s hair color. Mia smiles but chooses not to say anything too cheesy about how sentimental Sam can be. She doesn’t want to embarrass him.

“And the one on your chest?” Sam pulls back so they can examine it together. It’s almost as simple as the other one, if not more -- just the outlines of three birds flying along the line of his collarbone, the stencils filled in black.

“Well, you know how Seb’s totally covered?” Mia nods, distinctly aware of the fact that Sebastian’s arms are littered with tattoos -- he’d even mentioned wanting to get a sleeve done soon. “He actually has the same one in the same spot. It was his idea, to be honest.” 

“Wait… for real?” Sam nods, reminiscing about the night he and Seb got matching tattoos.

“It’s a super cliché one -- I feel like everyone gets like the trio of birds flying at some point. But Seb was trashed and in his feelings about his family and his life, so he said something about wanting to ‘fly away’, and next thing I know, I’m getting my first tattoo in some shady ass place at, like, 3 in the morning.” Mia watches Sam as he rambles, wondering how this could possibly be true.

“You got matching tattoos with your best friend on a whim… because he was drunk and upset?” Sam blinks, eyes wide.

“Well, yeah, of course. I couldn’t convince him not to, and I couldn’t just let him do it alone -- what kind of friend is that?” Mia swears that not even five minutes ago, she’d decided not to be cheesy, but she can’t help it.

“How are you the most endearing little shit I’ve ever met?” Sam scoffs, rolling his eyes and flopping back on his bed dramatically.

“It’s like you thrive off of my humiliation.”

“Oh, I definitely do.” Sam nudges her with his knee before reaching over to check his phone for the time. 

“Oh shit, I gotta get ready -- it’s 11:45 already.” Mia rises quickly, heading for the door.

“Okay, I’ll wait outside so you can get--”

“Nope, no worries, I’m ready.” Mia watches as Sam kicks off his pajama pants, revealing a very interesting pair of bright blue boxers with pizza designs, and pulls a pair of jeans from a drawer. He hops into them while heading for the closet, pulling out the first t-shirt he sees and slipping it over his head, whining at the pain on his shoulders. Planting his hands on Mia’s shoulders, he spins her around and marches her out into the living room, where he slips on his sneakers with practiced ease.

“I’ll walk you, if you aren’t gonna be late.” He looks up at Mia with a grin.

“Sounds like you’re gonna have to keep up, farm girl.” Sam yells a goodbye to his family as he takes off, leaving Mia to chase after him. It isn’t much of a race, Sam’s legs unfairly long, but he slows down now and then just to tease her. They get to Joja Mart in record time, both out of breath and complaining. Mia cries out to the sky, exhausted.

“Why did I agree to this?! I don’t even need to go to Joja!” Sam laughs, rising from a crouch beside her.

“You love to spend time with me?” He says it as he’s checking his phone -- still three minutes before he has to clock in. “What’s your plan for the rest of the day?” Mia hums, tapping her chin.

“Nothing, really. Probably gonna borrow another book from Seb and then chill at home? It’s a quiet day for once.” Sam nods, an idea forming in his head. He feels like maybe Mia might not want to see more of him today, but just in case… 

“Mind if I come over after work?” She doesn’t even think about it, Sam notes, her nod almost automatic. Then she realizes that Sam’s looking awkward, and her smirk has Sam rolling his eyes and heading for the Joja Mart doors.

“Sorry, who loves spending time with who?” Sam calls back to her as he crosses the entrance, turning to smile innocently.

“I have no idea what you mean, Mia.” The doors slide closed between them, their lingering gazes unknown to the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i actually had way more content planned for this chapter, but I only got halfway through it before realizing it was already 11 pages long, so I guess i'll be splitting this day into two parts! please lmk what you think !


	8. An Unfamiliar Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mia and Sebastian talk about family, and Sam's not sure he's fond of their bonding time

After Mia drops Sam off at work, she heads up the mountain to see Sebastian. It really is an easy day for her, nothing to really do except go back into the mines for more resources, but she’s not in the mood today. You can only risk your life underground so many times a week. 

Heading into the house, she greets Robin with a smile before turning the corner and descending into the basement. There are voices coming from inside, one urgent and the other mildly annoyed.

“Can you fix it?”

“You asked me that two minutes ago, and I said yes.”

“But it’s not fixed yet.”

“Because it’s only been two minutes!” Mia cracks open the door, the conversation inside making much more sense once she surveys the room. Sebastian’s pacing back and forth between his bed and his table, hand on his chin. At his desk sits Maru, head buried in wires and other electrical stuff that Mia neither understands nor wants to go near. 

“What’s… up, guys?” Sebastian turns to her, his face giving away how stressed he is.

“She’s dead.”

“Who’s dead?”

“The love of my life.” Maru sighs, shaking her head.

“He’s being dramatic as usual. His computer’s acting up.” Sebastian whines loudly before falling down to the cushions next to his table. His shirt hangs low on his shoulders, and Mia notes that he does, in fact, have a trio of birds flying along his left collarbone as well. The fact that Sam and Sebastian have matching tattoos continues to be the most endearing thing Mia’s learned so far, especially considering that the two are actually polar opposites in literally every aspect of their personalities.

“‘Ru, I don’t have the means to replace this computer if it’s fucked, okay? And all of my work is on this thing -- I was almost done with my assignment! It took me all week!” Mia’s never seen Sebastian this visibly panicked, but apparently Maru has, because she’s rolling her eyes.

“Your computer’s not fucked -- maybe if you didn’t have me, it would be, but you do have me, so--” She stops, leaning down under the desk to do something that apparently works because after a moment, the computer beeps and the screen lights up. Maru leans back in Sebastian’s chair and sighs, watching the device boot up before turning to look at her brother with a raised eyebrow. Sebastian’s jaw drops and he jumps to his feet, rushing to her side to look at it. 

“Holy shit, you did it.” Maru scoffs as she stands from the chair, and it’s the most sass Mia’s ever seen from the normally soft, kind girl. 

“Of course I did it, who do you take me for?” Sebastian grins and wraps his arms around her.

“You fucking nerd, you’re the best thing to come of my mom’s marriage to that fool upstairs.” 

“Yeah, yeah, where’s my payment?” Sebastian points at Mia, who is suddenly very confused.

“She’s got it.” Maru looks up at him in disbelief.

“You said you _had_ strawberries ready for me! I’ve been craving them for days!” 

“No, I said I had _access_ to strawberries, and I do.” Sebastian smiles innocently down at Mia, who’s taken a seat on his couch just to watch them argue. “I’ll pay you whatever you want for fresh strawberries.” Maru scoffs.

“No, Mia, you don’t have to do that -- I didn’t realize Sebastian was a traitor and a liar.” Seb blinks and tilts his head to look down at his sister, still trapped in his hold.

“You didn’t?” Mia smiles, shaking her head.

“It’s all good, Maru -- my harvest will actually be ready again this weekend if you wanna stop by and pick them yourself. No payment necessary.” Maru’s eyes sparkle at the idea of fresh hand-picked strawberries, while Seb’s eyes sparkle at the idea of free manual labor. Mia chuckles at the resemblance between them, a very rare sight but still there sometimes for the careful eye to see. She stands, pointing at Seb’s bookcase.

“But I wanna borrow two books this time — I got through the last one so fast that I was tempted to wake you up at 2am just to borrow another.” Sebastian nods, releasing Maru and gesturing to the shelves lined with reading material. 

“You’re always free to show up at random hours of the night — there’s a very low chance I’d be sleeping anyway.” He turns back to Maru while Mia digs through his books. “You should probably head back up now, or your dad’s going to think I’m corrupting you again.” Maru sends him an apologetic glance, one that Mia happens to catch when she rises to her feet with two books. 

“I’ve tried talking to him, Seb, but he’s really stubborn when he wants to be.” Sebastian waves her off.

“Don’t worry about it, ‘Ru. He’s always thought of me as a huge burden to this family, especially once his perfect baby girl was born.” Maru cringes, looking guilty, but Seb just puts his hand on her back and pushes her in the direction of his door -- Mia can’t help but think that the older brother vibe is a foreign look on Sebastian, but it’s nice to see all the same, especially considering that Maru’s normally the mature one. She’s almost 21 years old -- not that much younger than Mia, but Sebastian’s going to be 25 this year, so watching them act like teenagers is both weird and fun. He points at Maru when she turns back to look at them. 

“You’re lucky you’re cool, or else we wouldn’t get along.” Maru frowns but heads to the door, waving at them before heading upstairs. Once she’s gone, Sebastian drops his arm with a heavy sigh, reaching into his desk drawer for his cigarettes. 

“She always feels bad that Demetrius favors her so much, but it’s not like it’s her fault, right? She didn’t do anything except be born, just like I didn’t do anything except already exist when he came into my mom’s life.” He’s not looking at Mia, and she feels uncomfortable at the idea that she witnessed a vulnerable moment between siblings. She wonders if he feels like he has to explain, but she also knows Sebastian never does anything if he doesn’t want to. She nods when he points at the door, an invitation to head out with him. 

Once they’re out by the lake, Sebastian lights his cigarette and sits at the edge of the water, Mia following suit. 

“So, how’s the farm? Or, rather, how’s Sam doing on the farm?” Mia grins, setting the books down beside her.

“He’s doing great—-“ She laughs when Seb sends her a sideways glance. “Really, he is! Nothing’s been set on fire, my animals are taken care of, and he waters my crops very, _very_ carefully. I’ve never thought that carefully about anything in my life.” Seb chuckles, flicking ashes off his cigarette with his thumb once before bringing it back to his lips. 

“He wants to do well. I know he’s nervous that he’s gonna fuck something up.” Mia shakes her head.

“He’s got nothing to worry about.” They sit in silence, staring out at the water, but something comes to mind soon, so Mia turns to him.

“So, I don’t know if he told you about the band stuff-“ 

“Oh, yeah, that’s right. I heard our practice spot changed.” Mia nods, glad that Sam’s told him. “You sure it’s okay that we use your place? We’re kind of loud.” 

“Yeah, of course.” She smirks, peering over at him. “But I would appreciate it if you and Abigail refrained from getting freaky in my house.” Seb flushes, knocking his knee into hers in annoyance. Mia doesn’t know much about Sebastian’s relationship with Abigail, but she does know that it’s ‘complicated’, as Seb had painfully explained to her after she’d accidentally walked in on them getting hot and heavy in his room not too long ago.

“I thought we agreed not to talk about that ever again.” He looks really embarrassed, but Mia’s having fun.

“Sometimes, I have nightmares about it—“ 

“Oh, _shut up.”_ He leans heavily into her, knocking her off balance slightly as she laughs at him. They’re quiet again for a few minutes, and Mia wants to ask if Seb’s doing okay at home, but she feels like the topic’s already reached its limit for the day. 

“I can tell you want to talk about it.” Mia looks at him, surprised. He’s looking her over, his eyebrows raised. “We can talk about it.” Mia shakes her head.

“Not if you don’t want to.” 

“I would have pretended I didn’t see that conflicted look on your face if that was the case.” Mia cringes — her emotions had always been pretty clear in her eyes, a weakness since childhood. 

“I just wanted to know if you were okay.” Seb takes a drag of his cigarette, thinking while he exhales. 

“I mean, it’s hard, yeah. But you can only be called a useless, lazy waste of oxygen so many times before it starts to just roll off your back.” He chuckles darkly, but Mia’s heart clenches at the look in his eye. 

“I’m sorry, Seb. I know the feeling.” He looks at her quickly, shock in his eyes. “Well, not to the extent that you’re experiencing it, but that just means that if I thought I had it hard, then you…” Sebastian examines her for a moment before leaning in a bit. 

“Wanna talk about it?” Mia smiles, shaking her head. 

“I don’t want to make your problems about me, that’s not fair… is there anything I can do to help?” Sebastian waves her off before taking another drag.

“It’s alright — I just need to save enough money to get out of here and find my own place. Somewhere where I can be left alone. That’s kind of why I freaked when my computer crashed earlier. It would take a huge chunk out of my savings to get a new one, and I _really_ want out.” Mia nods, understanding the feeling well — the feeling of needing to escape. 

“I get you. That’s why I first left for the city, too. My twin sister and I packed up our shit and left home as soon as we could. But… I don’t know, I just really hope it goes better for you than it did for me. I’m sure it will, you’re a lot stronger than me.” Sebastian listens, and Mia can see him trying to process everything. 

“I didn’t know you had a sister.” 

“Oh, yeah, only Shane knows, actually. Well, Sam, too, but Shane’s the only one that knows everything. I guess I just keep forgetting to mention her.” Seb’s eyebrows furrow.

“What happened when you went to the city?” Mia thinks carefully, trying to find a way to say it without making Sebastian lose hope for his escape from Pelican Town.

“I realized that I couldn’t completely leave behind what I’d been trying to forget back home. But… there were factors of that situation that you wouldn’t have to deal with, like…” She trails off, leaving Sebastian to guess, his voice soft.

“Like a twin sister?” Mia smiles, her eyes dark. 

“I’m sorry — we made it about me again.” Seb smiles, taking the hint. 

“Cool if I come by soon to check out the new practice space?” 

—-

At 4pm, Sam steps past the doors of Joja Mart into the spring air with a sigh, his muscles whining at him. He’s wondering if he should text Mia to see if she’s home, but he isn’t expecting someone to be waiting for him outside.

“Vince?” His brother’s sitting on the ground, flipping through the book Sam got him while he waits. He looks up with a smile, closing the thing with an impressive slam. “Whatcha doin’ here, dude?” 

“Sam! ‘Bastian told me yesterday to go see him today for a special gift! Can you take me?” Sam hums, unaware that Sebastian even had a birthday gift for Vincent. 

“Yeah, sure, let’s go.” His brother stands, lifting the heavy book with a slight struggle. “Want me to hold that?” Vincent shakes his head.

“Nope! Adventurers are strong.” Sam smiles with a shake of his head as they travel up the mountain. 

It doesn’t take long to get to Sebastian’s house, but just as they’re about to head for the door, Sam hears laughter coming from the lake. When he turns his head, he’s glad he hadn’t just gone to Mia’s farm, seeing as she’s literally sitting right in front of him. 

She and Sebastian are laughing about something that’s apparently very funny to Sebastian and very embarrassing for Mia. 

“I _told_ you, it was my first time! I’d never used one before!” Sebastian’s practically lying down, clutching his sides as he cackles.

“It’s not hard, just stick ‘em with the pointy end!” 

“You haven’t seen what those things can do! They jump so fast!” 

“Yeah, and they’re also like a foot high, _maybe._ ” Mia reaches over and pushes Sebastian, laughing triumphantly when he almost rolls right into the lake. There’s a pang of something in Sam’s chest, but he doesn’t have time to think about it because Vincent’s spotted them, too.

“Miss Mia!” Mia and Sebastian turn back at the voice, tears of mirth lining the edges of Sebastian’s eyes. Sam smiles as he approaches, and he can’t help but feel that it’s forced. He hasn’t seen Sebastian laugh that hard in a long time, and it makes him wonder just how fond his best friend is of Mia.

“Vincent, hi! What are you doing here?” Mia smiles up at Sam, and Sam can’t tell if she’s actually happy to see him or still just giddy from her moment with Seb. There’s a lot about this situation that Sam doesn’t know, and he doesn’t like not knowing. 

“I’m here to see ‘Bastian!” Seb puts out his cigarette, Sam noting that there are 2 other cigarette butts next to him.

_How long have they been out here?_

“I heard you’ve been getting into adventuring lately, Vince.” The boy nods and holds up the book in his hands. 

“Yeah, Sam got me a guide and everything!” Seb smiles, recognizing the gift Sam had worked hard to find. 

“Well, have you ever heard of _Cave Saga X_?” When Vincent shakes his head, Seb gasps dramatically. 

“Dude, it’s like, the best comic book series ever. It’s all about adventuring.” Vince’s eyes light up, and Seb continues at the obvious interest. “Wanna borrow the first one?” 

“Can I?!” Seb rises to his feet, dusting off his jeans. 

“Yeah, let’s go get it. And if you like it, I’ll let you take the whole collection.” Vincent gasps, looking at Sam as if searching for permission to accept it. Sam looks at Sebastian with wide eyes.

“Dude, the _whole thing_? There’s, like, 50 volumes in that series, and I know that nerd stuff’s not cheap.” Seb waves him off. 

“I’ve read it like 10 times already, it’s fine. If I ever miss it and want to reread, I can just find illegal copies online.” Vincent’s looking between them with anticipation, so Sam finally sighs and nods at him, snickering when his brother cheers and runs for the house. Seb follows behind, calling back to Sam and Mia that he’d return soon. 

Looking down at the farmer, Sam joins her at the edge of the lake when she pats the spot recently vacated. 

“How was work?” He gives her a sideways glance, and it’s all she needs to know. 

“What happened to having a chill day at home?” Sam cringes when it comes out almost harshly, but Mia doesn’t say anything if she notices. 

“It turned into a chill day out here. I’m glad you happened to come by, though, I was worried you’d just wait outside my house all night.” 

“Wow, Mia — blowing off our obviously concrete social plans to hang out with Seb? Low blow.” She laughs at how dramatically bitter he sounds. 

“I’m sorry, I promise not to almost stand you up again.” 

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” Mia looks Sam over, still red and crispy, and she winces. He really does look like crap.

“You know, if you’re still in a lot of pain, you should go home and rest… we can reschedule tonight. Plus, you have to be up early tomorrow again, and --”

“Mia, if you want to get rid of me, just say it. I’m a big boy, I can handle it.” He’s smirking at her, but he’s also really hoping she tells him it’s not true. Mia sighs, shaking her head.

“Sam, I literally sectioned off almost the entire second floor of my house for you -- you really think I don’t want to hang out with you?” Sam shrugs playfully.

“Alright, then, that’s settled. You want to hang out with me, I want to hang out with you. Seems simple enough to me.” Mia rolls her eyes, dropping the subject.

“Okay, fine. So what do you want to do?” He leans back on his hands, looking up at the sky.

“Well, I do kind of want to work on some songs -- I had a few ideas while I was at work, but they’re not solid.” He looks at her. “Want me to seduce you with my killer guitar skills?” She laughs, and he can tell that this one really is because of him.

“You know, that’s a lot of confidence -- you sure you can?” Sam’s about to tell her that, no, he has absolutely no idea if he can successfully seduce her, but instead he just shoots her a smug grin.

“Obviously -- have you met me?” Their banter’s interrupted by an excited Vincent exiting the house, another book stacked on his adventurer’s guide. 

“Sam, let’s go! I wanna get home and read!” Sebastian stands at the door, leaning a shoulder on the frame as he watches Sam and Mia move to meet Vincent. He waves lazily when they pass on their way down the mountain, nodding when Sam mouths a silent ‘thank you’ for Vincent’s gift. He watches them leave, rolling his eyes when he hears Demetrius yelling for him, his voice angered. 

_Here we go again._

\--

“So, you’re going to work on songs? I can just watch my show on my laptop while you do that.” Sam and Mia are entering the forest when she brings up their plans again. They’d just dropped off Vincent at home, waiting until he was inside before heading out again. Sam hums, hands in his pocket.

“There’s not a lot of us hanging out together in that plan.” 

“Yeah, but if you have stuff to do, then you should definitely do it. You can work in the living room and I can put my headphones in, then we’re _technically_ together, right?” Sam nods at the compromise.

“Alright, fine, but only if we at least make dinner together.” Mia looks up at him, impressed.

“You know how to cook?” 

“Uh, no, definitely not, but no time like the present, right?” They cross over onto the farm, and Sam waits while Mia closes the hatches to her barn and coop before following her into the house. Sam washes his hands in the sink while Mia does the same in the kitchen, returning to find her pulling ingredients out, Seb’s books on the table.

“Brinner?” Sam blinks, sure he’s heard something incorrectly.

“What?” Mia lifts her head from inside the fridge, blinking back.

“Brinner?” 

“What the fuck is brinner?” Mia smiles, setting a carton of eggs on the counter and pulling out a bag of flour from the cabinet over the sink.

“Breakfast for dinner, obviously.” Sam squints at her, unsure if she’s messing with him.

“So… breakfast.” 

“No, brinner!” He huffs, exasperated.

“Just say you want breakfast!” She grins, enjoying his annoyance.

“But it’s dinnertime!” Laughing when he groans loudly, she waves him over to the stove.

“Pancakes should be easy enough, right? I’ll pour, you flip?” Sam reaches for the empty bowl on the counter, uncertain.

“Maybe you should handle the things that involve fire -- I’ll mix the batter and pour.” Mia nods at his request, moving to stand by the stove. She watches him struggle to pour flour into the bowl, raising an eyebrow when he gets it everywhere. He looks down at her nervously while reaching for the eggs, more careful about it this time. The way he mixes the batter is stressing Mia out, mostly because he has no control of his wrists and ends up spilling half of it, so she reaches over and lays a hand on his, stopping him. 

“Okay, before we have no more batter to make into pancakes, let me help.” He’s embarrassed, but the feeling is blocked out quickly by the fact that she’s stepping in close to him, close enough that he has to move to let her shift into the spot between him and the counter. He’s not sure what to do -- he’s never been in this admittedly super stereotypical situation before, and he can see now why it’s such a popular rom-com moment. Mia’s essentially trapped between him and the counter, oblivious to the fact that Sam’s panicking because she’s so focused on showing him how to mix the damn pancake batter. He looks up at the ceiling, breathing deeply and asking himself how the hell he got here.

“Sam, are you paying attention?” She looks up at him now, craning her neck to see him properly, and Sam’s completely amazed that she’s not yet realized just how close he is. He nods, peering over her shoulder to stare into the bowl, trying not to think about the fact that he can feel her breathing against his chest or that the gentle beating he feels is not his own heartbeat, but hers. 

“So, is -- uh, is the batter ready, then?” She watches the side of his face, wondering where his mind’s gone, before nodding. 

“Yeah, I think so. Ready to pour?” He nods quickly, pulling his hand softly from beneath hers and taking a step back, looking for a ladle as an excuse. 

He keeps glancing at her while they cook, making Mia feel like she’s missed something, but she doesn’t want to say anything. The house is silent, both of them distracted, and it’s only when Mia turns off the dial on the stove that things feel normal again. They eat together on the couch, flipping through random channels on Mia’s TV before settling on lengthy, dramatic infomercials just for the sake of mocking them. When they finish eating, Mia moves to grab his empty plate, but Sam thinks about the fact that his mother’s always complaining about him never washing dishes, so he stops her. 

“I got it. You set up your show and stuff.” Mia smiles gratefully, watching him take the dishes to the sink before heading into her room for her laptop and headphones. Sam washes everything, his mind wandering to his music again, and he barely notices that Mia’s returned until he dries his hands and turns to find a giant comforter wrapped around a lump in the middle of the couch. 

“Cold?” She pulls the blanket down just enough that she can peer over the top of it. She looks concerningly burrito-like.

“Nope, just comfy.” Sam shakes his head with a smile before heading upstairs to grab his guitar, bringing it down to the kitchen table along with a notebook and pencil he always has in his guitar case. 

They sit in relative silence for about an hour, Sam mumbling to himself and occasionally strumming his guitar while Mia becomes enraptured by her show. She only has one earbud in just in case Sam needs her for something, but she’s so distracted that she doesn’t hear him sigh and get to his feet, dragging himself back upstairs to put his instrument back. When he returns, he heads for the couch, scaring her when he flops down beside her. 

“Oh, shit!” He looks at her, alarmed, as she pokes her head back out of her cocoon in shock. 

“Uh… sorry?” Leaning forward, she hits the space bar to pause the show and removes her earbud, tossing the headphones on the coffee table before opening up her comforter to him. He looks down at the space next to her, knowing it’s _way_ too close to be sitting after what had happened earlier, but he’s stressed and could use the comfort. Lifting himself and settling back down, he smiles when the warmth of the blanket envelops him, leaning into Mia with a sigh. 

“What’s up?” She moves her laptop out of the way so they can prop their feet up on the table, and Sam thinks they must look pretty funny sitting like this, two burritos buried in the couch. 

“I’m having a hard time with my songs -- well, that’s a lie, I have the lyrics. I think they’re alright, could probably use some tweaking, but otherwise fine. It’s… I don’t know what vibe to go for. I can’t figure out the music part. Our style has always kind of been up in the air, but I really wanna pin it down and just decide.” Mia nods, figuring Sam probably isn’t actually looking for an answer, especially since they both know she’s not exactly a music expert. Still, she wants to help if she can. 

“Is there anything I can do?” Sam stares down at his hands, blinking up at her when an idea comes to mind.

“What kind of music do you listen to? Like, what genres?” Mia cocks her head to the side but reaches for her phone anyway, pulling up her playlists as she hands it to him. 

“I don’t really know what the genre is, but I like this kind of stuff.” Sam scrolls through it, humming. She’s kind of expecting him to judge her music taste, but then she remembers that this is Samson Meyer, probably the sweetest person she’s ever met. Shane could be genuinely kind on rare occasion, and Seb and Maru were really great friends to her, but Sam is just inherently… good. She hasn’t known him long, but the parts of himself that he’s shown her have clearly been built from a soul that genuinely wants the best for everyone, even if they don’t always see what’s best for _him_. People are never perfect, but it’s not hard to see that Sam is, whether he means to be or not, as bright as the sun. 

“Why are you looking at me like that…?” Mia blinks, realizing that Sam’s turned to look down at her, confused. 

_Oh. I was staring again._

“Nothing. Sorry.” Sam smirks, bumping his elbow into hers.

“Were you checking me out again?” Mia rolls her eyes, gesturing to the phone in his hand.

“No, I was waiting for your final judgment on my music taste.” He looks down at the screen, nodding.

“It’s good -- I actually haven’t heard too much alternative music, I’m interested. Who knows -- maybe we’re destined for the pop punk indie vibe?” Mia blinks at him.

“The what?” He shrugs, shaking his head.

“No clue -- the words mean nothing to me, but it’s alternative… I think.” They both laugh at Sam’s fake confidence, and Mia reaches for her headphones. 

“We can listen if you want.” Sam takes the right earbud with intrigue, settling deeper into the couch for the impromptu listening session. 

“Please don’t let me fall asleep -- I’ll never hear the end of it if I don’t go home tonight.” Mia nods, picking an album as she mimics him and gets comfortable.

“You got it, Meyer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so i guess i tried to do a bit of an overhaul on sam's 2 heart event at the end, but i dont want to call it that bc im not sure i'll be doing it for every heart event lol. i actually recently discovered a band called LAUNDRY DAY, and they're kind of what i imagine sam's music would be like, so i've been listening to them on repeat whenever i write. i didn't want to name them directly in the writing, though, so i just tried to describe their vibe [whether i succeeded is another matter], but i thought id let you guys know what i was thinking of with mia's music if anyones interested! i hope you like the chapter!


	9. Sam's First Week : Success

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam discovers that jelly day is a personal favorite at his new job, and Mia has a surprise for him on Friday.

The darkness that surrounds Sam when he opens his eyes is confusing, both because he has absolutely no clue what time it could possibly be and because this definitely isn’t his bedroom. He tries to sit up and look around, but something’s weighing him down. When he looks, there’s a head on his shoulder and an arm thrown over his waist. From the corner of the room comes a small sound, and Sam sees when he looks over that it’s Miso, his tiny yellow eyes peering back at Sam in the dark. Chuckling, he throws his head back against the couch, trying to clear the sleep from his mind.

_So much for not letting me fall asleep._

It’s not a big deal, really -- he just knows his dad’s going to grill him about where he’s gone and then bring up the girlfriend thing again, and he really doesn’t want to drag Mia into his dad’s urgent mission to find his son a romantic partner.

Yawning, Sam pats the space around him, closing his hand around his phone once he finds it. Squinting at the bright screen, he swears under his breath when he see that it’s almost 4:30. This had been a full night’s sleep, not just a nap. He puts his hand on Mia’s knee, shaking her gently. 

“Mia.” She doesn’t respond, so he tries again, a little louder. “Hey, Mia.” She hums. “You gotta go to bed, farm girl -- you’ll mess up your neck like this.” She shifts, throwing her right leg across Sam’s lap and adjusting her head on his shoulder.

“Comfy.” He pats her leg, tempted to stay but ultimately not wanting to let her fall back asleep on the couch.

“Come on, don’t do this to me, I don’t have the mental strength to say no to you.”

“Then don’t.” Sam sighs, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and jostling her, hoping it’ll work.

“It’s almost 4:30 -- I have to go home and wash this aloe off my skin before work later.” She gestures in the direction of the bathroom, burying her head in his shoulder.

“Sleep now, shower here.” Sam groans, the temptation too strong at this point, but he knows better. So, he steadies the arm around her shoulders and, hooking his other arm under her knees, he lifts her into his lap, pausing just long enough to prepare himself before standing to his feet. Every muscle in his body, still sore from his work on Wednesday, is crying out for him to stop torturing himself, but he moves toward Mia’s bedroom door anyway.

“You drive a hard bargain, missy, but it won’t work on me this time.” Mia whines into his neck, and he falters for a moment when her breath fans out over his skin. Shaking his head to clear it, he enters her room and heads straight for the bed, laying her gently on the mattress. It takes him a moment to untangle himself from her limbs, made all the more difficult by Mia refusing to let him go, but he finally steps away, heading back into the living room for her comforter. When he returns, she’s sitting up, eyes closed but arms outstretched in his direction.

“Come back.” She’s pouting, and Sam has to take a deep breath because, quite honestly, this is the hardest test he’s ever taken and he has no idea if he’ll pass. With a final huff he crosses over to her, throwing the blanket over her head and guiding her back down by her shoulders. He barely avoids getting caught in her trap again when her hand sneaks out and grasps at the bottom of his shirt. 

“You’re driving me insane, Mia, seriously.” She pouts again, and Sam leans down to whisper in her ear. “Don’t be upset, it’s not bad.” Standing and backing away from her dangerous clutches, he calls out to her normally.

“Get some sleep, okay? I’ll be back at 6.” He waits for the mumble of acknowledgement before leaving, stopping quickly to offer Miso his hand in the hall. The cat only sniffs at it before moving to join his owner in the bedroom. Sam takes it as more progress. 

\--

“Where have you been?” Sam swears under his breath as he closes the front door. He’d really hoped his father wouldn’t be awake, but Kent’s schedule has him waking up at a prompt 4am, so there would have been almost no chance for Sam to sneak in unnoticed. He turns to his dad, smiling awkwardly.

“Sorry, dad, I fell asleep at my friend’s house.” Kent squints at him from the couch.

“Which friend? The farmer?” Sam doesn’t even think about it, desperate to keep Mia out of it, and answers immediately.

“No, I was at Seb’s. I just came back to shower and eat before work.” A pause, occupied by Kent observing his son carefully.

“Sebastian’s house?” Sam nods again as he moves for the bathroom. “I had hoped it would be the farmer’s house.” Sam purses his lips, not even bothering to respond but thoroughly annoyed at his dad trying to play matchmaker. He slips into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind him and effectively ending the conversation.

When he emerges, he’s relieved to see that his dad’s left for the day already. Pouring himself a bowl of cereal, he eats it slowly, watching the clock tick closer to the time he’s supposed to leave. He doesn’t hear his mom open her bedroom door and pad out into the kitchen until she’s basically standing over him.

“Where were you?” Sam shuts his eyes and breathes once before looking up at her.

“Seb’s. Sorry I didn’t let you know, I just fell asleep there.” Jodi thinks about his answer before moving to the coffee machine with a nod.

“Good, I was worried that you might have been at Mia’s.” Dropping his spoon into his bowl with a loud _clang_ , he moves it to the sink and turns on the water angrily. He scrubs at the bowl with a grimace, irritated that his parents not only couldn’t stay out of his love life, but they also couldn’t seem to decide whether they wanted him to have one or not. He’s so busy being grumpy that he doesn’t see his mom staring at him in shock.

“You’re washing your bowl.” Sam looks down at her as he finishes up, somehow more annoyed that she looks so impressed with him. Drying the dish without responding, he simply puts it away before leaning down to plant a kiss on the side of her head.

“Have a good day, mom.”

\--

Mia wakes to the sound of her front door opening, utterly confused. Looking down at herself as she sits up, she sees that she’s still in her clothes from the night before, and she’s extremely groggy. She has no idea what time it is, only that the sunlight is bright in her room, so she guesses that she’s overslept.

“Holy bedhead.” Looking over at her door, she blinks lazily at Sam, who’s leaning on the frame, arms crossed over his chest. 

“What time is it?” He smiles at her, moving to the side of her bed and tossing the comforter from her body with a wave of his hand.

“Almost 6:15 -- I already watered your crops, and you’re still in bed. What kind of farmer are you?” Mia blinks a few times, looking up at Sam for a moment before pushing him away gently. He watches her roll out of bed unceremoniously, stumbling when she lands.

“I need a shower. And coffee.” 

“Well, I can get the coffee started, but there’s not much I can do about the other thing… Unless?” He snickers when she passes him, planting her hand on his mouth as she wanders toward her dresser.

“It’s too early for you. Not enough coffee in my bloodstream.” Smiling to himself, Sam leaves her to get ready and heads for the kitchen. While he waits for the coffee to start brewing, he glances down at Miso’s empty bowl and begins searching for his food.

“Miso, can you give me a hint about the location of your meal?” He isn’t expecting any kind of response from the wary cat, so he’s shocked when Miso gets up and, with practiced agility, hops his way from the floor to the table to the counter before meowing loudly up at the cabinet over his head. Sam opens it, staring directly at a bag of cat food before looking down at Miso.

“Just tell me the truth -- did Mia teach you guys how to understand and communicate with her? I need to know, I’ve said some very embarrassing things to Choccy in my fits of dehydration.” Miso only meows up at the food again, so Sam takes it down to fill his bowl. Once he’s done, he gauges the time left on the coffee and decides he can feed the animals outside and be back right as it’s finishing.

When Mia wanders into the living room, much more awake, she’s confused at the absence of a tall blond. Greeting Miso, she wonders if maybe she imagined Sam in her sleepy state of existence, but Miso’s bowl is full and the coffee machine’s going, so he must be here.

“Fucking chicken, when will you learn to love me, damn it!” Opening her front door and stepping onto the porch, Mia watches as Sam gets hunted down by what can only be Shane -- she can’t see the chicken in the tall grass, but there’s angry movement chasing Sam around the farm, so there’s really no other explanation. 

“Mia, call off your guard chicken! My ankles can’t take it anymore!” Mia smirks at Sam as he races past, clutching a few eggs to his chest, and she calls out to him.

“You’re doing great, Sam!” She considers letting him be chased around, but Shane’s about to pass her, and she’s feeling like maybe she shouldn’t have her farmhand run down by a chicken in his first week. Stepping off the porch and leaning down with expert speed, she scoops Shane up off the ground and holds her close until she stops struggling and starts clucking calmly, giving Mia’s arm the occasional gentle peck. Sam approaches them slowly, his face deadpan as he gestures to the eggs in his arms.

“Would you like your demon chicken’s demon egg fried or mayonnaised?” Mia grimaces, nodding out to the shed.

“I get the feeling that would not make a tasty fried egg.” Sam gives her a wild look, as if to question the quality of the future mayonnaise, before heading out the shed. 

“I’ll be in after I milk Choccy and also talk to her about keeping secrets.” Mia furrows a brow and looks down at Shane.

“Do you know what that means? Because I don’t.” 

\-- 

After having a long talk with Choccy, Sam heads back into the house to be greeted by the smell of fresh coffee. Bumping open the door with his shoulder, he finds Mia standing just inside, staring diligently at the coffee maker, as if her life depends on it.

“You okay?” Mia doesn’t bother looking up.

“Shh… it’s almost done.” Sam goes to stand beside her, putting his hands on his knees and bending to be eye level with the pot. They wait in silence for a moment, and when it beeps, Mia cheers, moving to grab two mugs from the cabinet. “I cannot function until there is caffeine in my body.” Pouring them both a cup, she hands one to Sam with a sigh, and he lifts it to his nose just to smell it. 

“I’ll be honest, I could have had coffee at home, but I kind of like the idea of morning coffee together.” He stills, wondering if he’s just said something completely stupid.

“How very domestic of you, Mister Meyer.” Sam groans and reaches for the creamer with a shake of his head.

“I take it back, I’m never having coffee here again.” Mia smiles into her mug, nudging him with her elbow to let him know she’s joking. After her first sip, she lowers the cup to the counter, taking a deep breath. Sam’s lucky he’s finished pouring his cream and sugar because, very suddenly and rather aggressively, Mia reaches out and smacks both of her hands down on either side of his face, cupping his cheeks with a smile. He stares back at her, highly aware of his squished appearance. 

“Today is a very special day, Samson Meyer. It’s jelly day.” She releases him and heads for the door, leaving him at the counter, startled and lost. He thinks of following her, but she’s already gone and he has no idea what’s just happened. He rubs at his cheeks, sipping idly at his coffee while he waits. There’s commotion on the porch not even a minute later, so he goes to open the door, finding a large wooden preserve jar right outside. Mia’s gone again, leaving him to assume that there’s another. 

Taking it and setting it near the table, he lifts the lid, finding that the blueberry jelly he’d seen last week is more solidified now, definitely done and ready for packaging. He turns when Mia reenters the house, carrying another jar of jelly. She points to the cabinet over the fridge without looking up from dragging it to the table.

“Hey, Lengthy Legs, can you get the stack of jars and lids up there? I’m not in the mood to jump for things I can’t reach.” Shaking his head at the nickname, Sam reaches over the fridge for the cabinet, pulling it open to find about two dozen mason jars, lids and decorative ribbons beside them. He takes it all down, waiting for her instruction as she removes the lids from the preserves jars and moves to search for a ladle.

“Do you want to scoop or package?” Sam holds his hand out for the deep plastic spoon.

“I really hope you don’t think I can be trusted to make things look nice for profit.” Mia grins and hands it to him, disappearing into her bedroom and returning with a portable speaker, already connecting it to her phone. 

“It’s going to be a long day of blueberry jelly, so -- any requests?” Sam hums, dipping the ladle in and sloshing a bit of jelly around.

“Let’s keep listening to what you put on last night -- I really liked their sound, and I could use some inspiration.” Sam hears the first strums of a deep bassline and smiles, scooping jelly into the small glass jar in his hand. “So I just fill this and hand it over to you? This shouldn’t take forever with two of us, right?” Mia tosses him a clean dish towel.

“Wipe off anything that gets on the outside so that I can just cap them and put them in the crate for shipping right away. Also, there is a deceptive amount of jelly in these things, so we might be here for hours.” Sam thinks to himself that he doesn’t mind that plan -- getting paid to spend the day with Mia, out of the sun and away from angry chickens? If only every job was this good.

“So, did you get any inspiration last night from our couch time? You know, before--”

“Before we completely knocked out?” Mia smiles guiltily.

“Sorry.” He smiles, shaking his head.

“I wasn’t upset. You were… what is it that you called me yesterday? The ‘most endearing little shit I’ve ever met’?” Mia stares, wide-eyed.

“What does that mean?” Sam grins evilly at her, shrugging as he hands her a jar full of jelly. 

“Oh nothing, just that I hadn’t realized how clingy you are when you sleep. Like an octopus, latching on with a steel grip.” Mia searches his face for signs of a lie, but he’s so smug that she just knows he’s telling the truth. 

“Let’s just… forget that happened?” Sam snickers, shaking his head.

“No way, farm girl -- that was way too good to forget.”

“If you forget last night, I’ll forget that time Maru said you had a small--”

“That’s not how that happened! And, also, _not true!_ ” Mia laughs, pointing at Sam’s reddening cheeks without mercy before capping the jar in her hand and wrapping a white ribbon around the edge of the lid. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll take your word for it.” Sam gets a glint in his eye, prompting Mia to point at him in warning. “Whatever heinous thing you’re thinking of saying, hold it in.” Sam laughs loudly, cutting himself off when he hears something from the speaker that gives him pause.

“Woah -- did you hear that? The way they mixed that sound in? It’s super subtle, I love it.” Mia has absolutely no idea what Sam’s talking about, but the way his eye light up as he leans in to hear the music better is so impossibly wonderful that she can’t help but nod along. “Yoba, I wish I could do something that cool.” Mia tilts her head to the side, brow furrowed as she caps another jar.

“Why can’t you?” Sam hums, scooping jelly out of the wooden crate as he thinks of how to explain it.

“Well, to be completely straightforward, I just don’t have the equipment -- or anything that could come close to it. And since I don’t have the equipment, I don’t have the skill or practice to do it even if I did have access to the tech.”

“But if you did get the equipment, you could practice and mess around with it until you _do_ know how, right? How much is it?” Sam shakes his head, numbers flying around in his mind.

“I mean -- for a solid setup that I could use with all my instruments for a long time? Gotta be upwards of 1,000 gold, and I have like… 4 gold to my name because my Joja checks go straight to helping my parents with bills.” Mia smiles to herself, wondering if Sam remembers just how much she’s paying him, but his furrowed brow tells her that he doesn’t, too focused on the cost of following his dreams. After a moment, he huffs, deciding to leave that line of thinking for another day.

“So, you ready for the egg festival on Saturday?” They’ve gotten through quite a bit of jelly by now, Sam having to bend down into the wooden container as he asks her. Mia nods, unseen by him.

“Hell yeah -- I didn’t win the egg hunt last year, but I’m determined this time to beat Abigail.” Sam laughs, the sound echoing through the preserves jar.

“Yeah, well, that girl’s not going down without a fight. Plus, you still gotta get through me.”

“You’re competing?”

“I did last year too. Didn’t you notice me?” Mia smiles to herself -- she _had_ noticed him actually, the tall blond that she’d had trouble getting to know, his nose red and itchy from his allergies. But she feels weird letting him know that she’d been aware of him long before they’d officially started interacting.

“Did you notice _me_? After all, I never could seem to get your attention.” Sam cringes, lifting his head out of the crate to shoot her a grimace. 

“Sorry, I know I must have been really hard to talk to last year. I just was always thinking about the band, so I was busy practicing when I wasn’t at work. I had kind of a one-track mind.”

“And now you don’t?” Sam looks her over, wondering if she’s asking what he thinks she’s asking. 

“Yeah, well, now I know what I’ve been missing out on.” She flushes at his answer, and he decides that he really likes it when she’s flustered. She points at the mason jar in his hand, silently telling him to carry on with his work as she turns up the speaker for him to jam to.

They don’t even realize how long it takes them to get through all the jelly until there’s a knock at her door, startling them. Mia glances at her phone for the time.

“Yoba, it’s 6 already?” Sam’s eyebrows shoot up as he stretches, sighing when there’s a satisfying _pop_.

“It really did take us all day, huh?” He looks around while Mia answers the door, surveying all the mason jars on the table and the floor, stacked into nice piles to be sent to the shipping crate tonight. He’d had to go out into the shed a few hours ago to get more jars, a huge supply of them hidden in a closet there, and it feels now like there’s at least 50 of them.

“Hey, come in -- sorry about the maze of jars, we’re just finishing up.” Sam looks up, finding that Shane’s made his way into the house, and he’s handing a large pizza over to Mia’s waiting hands. Sam’s stomach grumbles in annoyance, and he ignores it in favor of greeting Shane.

“What’s up, man?” Shane nods at him, gesturing to all the jars surrounding Sam as well as the jelly residue on his arms and clothes.

“I can’t imagine you’d be a fan of jelly after a day like this.” Sam laughs, nodding as he wipes his clothes with a paper towel.

“More like I’m not a fan of blueberries after a day like this.” His stomach grumbles again, louder this time. “Alright, I should get going so you guys can enjoy your dinner. Want me to carry this stuff out to the crate, Mia?” She nods at him, moving to help stack some jars into Sam’s open arms. Shane watches them, clearing his throat after a second.

“Why don’t you stay for dinner, Meyer?” Sam and Mia both freeze, Mia turning to give Shane a questioning look. Sam can’t see it, but he’s got the exact same look on his face, something that both entertains and creeps Shane out. “I mean, this pizza’s huge, and there’s still some Joja Cola in the fridge, so…” Mia looks up at Sam, really confused, but her eyes are betraying her desire for Sam to stay. He nods down at her slowly.

“Yeah -- yeah, that sounds good, thanks… I’ll, uh, be right back, then.” He steps out of the house and down the porch carefully, wondering what could have possibly led Shane McCallister to want to have dinner with him. But, hey, there’s pizza, Joja Cola, and Mia, so he’s not about to pass up on this. 

\--

When Sam enters the farm at 6am the next morning, he’s shocked to see Mia outside petting the animals. He checks his phone, wondering if he screwed up the time, but it really is 6am.

“Was I supposed to get here earlier today?” Mia turns to the voice calling out to her, smiling brightly at Sam as he approaches her. He runs his hand over the side of Choccy’s head, greeting the keeper of his secrets with a gentle ‘good morning Choccy’. Mia shakes her head, passing over the cow’s hide with a brush as she responds.

“Nope, I just like to use Friday mornings to bond with my children.” She glances up at him with a smirk. “This week’s been wild for you, Farmhand. First jelly day, now animal bonding day!” Sam squints down at her, unused to her energy so early in the morning.

“Did you have coffee without me?” She throws her head back and laughs at the betrayal in his voice.

“No, Sam, I promise I would never do that to you. It _is_ ready, but I wanted to wait so we could continue our domestic tradition.” 

“Yeah, you better have. I would have been pissed.” He looks her over again, still confused. “So, if not the caffeine, why are you so happy and excitable?” She meets his eye, a sneaky glint passing through her gaze.

“It’s a surprise.” Before he can ask, she points out at her field. “My crops desire water, sir. I’ll take care of the animals today.” He wanders off to get the watering can with a scoff, and Mia returns to her task of milking Choccy and collecting the eggs before heading into the shed to process them. 

When she’s done, she jogs into the house to get their coffee ready, having noted Sam’s preferences and getting his ready for him to drink as soon as he’s done. She heads out onto the porch, taking a seat on the steps and waiting for him to join her. When he does, plopping down one step below her and leaning back on his elbows with a sigh, she hands him his coffee, which he smiles into for a moment.

“You call me domestic, but you know how I like my coffee?” She nudges his shoulder with her knee before turning her entire body to look him at him, back pressed against the railing. He eyes her with a raised eyebrow as he lifts the mug to his lips, and Mia hates that it’s actually really attractive for some reason. She blinks, clearing her mind of the fleeting thought.

“I had an idea this morning, and I think you will be happy about it -- actually, I had the idea last night, but then Miso decided he wanted to be an asshole because there were too many men in the house, so I got distracted.” Sam laughs, nodding as he takes another sip.

“Yeah, I think Miso likes me better than Shane, which I will admit is a point of pride for me.” They laugh at the memory of Shane getting into a physical altercation with Mia’s cat, the cat ultimately victorious. “Yesterday was nice, though… I’m glad I stayed.” Mia beams, her happiness overwhelming.

She had been really nervous to be in the same room as them, mostly because she had no idea what was going on in Shane’s head when he invited Sam to stay. It turns out that he had just wanted to get to know the blond, stating that they’d inevitably have to get to know each other with Sam now definitively in Mia’s life. It had been a sweet gesture, one that Mia had absolutely teased Shane about on the phone later that night.

 _“Well, if he’s here to stay, then I better get used to him,_ _huh?”_

The way he’d said it had felt like there was more to it, especially considering both he and Sam have been in Pelican Town much longer than Mia and would have had many chances to get to know each other by now, but Mia’s just happy he’d even made the first move. In truth, she’s more happy that Shane had suggested Sam was in her life for good, but that’s a topic for later contemplation. She looks down at the top of Sam’s head, watching as he throws it back to chug the last of his coffee before glancing up at her.

“So, what’s the idea you had last night?” Mia drinks the rest of her own coffee before reaching into her back pocket. 

“Well, first, you’re going to need this.” She hands him an envelope, and when he peeks inside, he finds it filled with bills. “5,000 gold, as negotiated in the contract we definitely didn’t write up.” Sam looks up at her, eyes wide. 

“But I haven’t even done a full week yet! I still have the weekend--”

“Consider it an advance payment, then. I’ll pay you on Sundays from now on, but I was too excited to wait this week.” Sam only stares at her in confusion, but she’s busy looking toward the entrance to her farm with a smile.

“‘Morning, guys!” Sam follows her gaze, making a noise of confusion when he sees Sebastian and Abigail heading in their direction, Seb’s arm thrown around Abby’s shoulder. He waves the hand attached to that arm, effectively pulling the girl closer as they close the distance to the porch.

“I just want everyone to know that it’s really fucking early, so I _will_ be taking a nap in the car.” Abigail rolls her eyes at Sebastian’s crabby greeting, waving with a smile and shining her car keys at them. Sam thinks he’s about to get whiplash from how fast he’s looking between the three of them in confusion. Mia grants him a bit of mercy and explains.

“Yesterday, you told me that getting a solid setup for your instruments that would last a long time would run you upwards of 1,000 gold.” She points at the envelope. “Well, you’re holding a hell of a lot more than 1,000 gold in that hand.” Sam blinks once, his brain working a mile a minute, so Mia puts it all together in a nice little conclusion for him. “Basically, we’re taking the day off and running away to the city to get you that tech you want, dork.” Another blink, and then Sam’s sticking his hand in the envelope and pushing a bunch of bills back at her. 

“Then cut my week’s pay by one day.” Mia’s eyebrows shoot up, and she knocks his hand away.

“No way, dude, you earned it--”

“Nuh-uh, no I didn’t! I’m taking the day off today, and yesterday there was very minimal manual labor! 5K’s too much!” Sebastian and Abigail gawk at the bills being pushed around the porch.

“Damn, Mia, you’re paying him 5K a week?! Do you need another farmhand by chance?” Mia smiles up at Abigail, still rejecting Sam’s monetary advances.

“Sorry, Abby, I only need one agent of chaos running around my farm.” The purple-haired girl laughs, leaning into Seb as she does so. 

“I knew I liked you, farm girl.” Mia’s about to respond, but Sam’s distracting her, so she focuses in on him.

“Will you -- _cut it out --_ will you _please_ stop pushing money at me?!” Sam points at her, challenging her with his eyes.

“Then stop paying me so much!”

“Why do you want me to pay you _less_?!”

“Because I don’t _earn_ 5K a week! Cut this shit in half! Let me earn it!” Mia sighs dramatically, throwing her head back with a groan. 

“Fine. Fine! I will cut your pay in half, you complete lunatic--”

“Hey, I’ll take his other half--” Sam levels Sebastian with a glare, his best friend shrugging back innocently. Sam turns back to Mia, holding his pinky finger out. 

“Pinky promise on 2,500 a week?” Mia rolls her eyes and reaches out to meet him halfway, but he pulls back at the last second. “This is a formal contract, Mia, so you better uphold the terms.” 

“Okay, okay! Jeez, you’re a ruthless businessman.” She links their pinkies together, and when she releases him, he reaches back into the envelope to return half of it, but Mia’s hopping up and off the porch.

“Except I already handed you this week’s pay, so it’s no take backsies! Let’s go!” Grabbing Abigail’s wrist, Mia runs off in the direction of the bus stop where Abby’s car is parked, leaving Sam behind to complain while Seb shakes his head at their early-morning antics.

“That’s breaking the contract! I’m calling the union on your ass!”

\--

“Holy mother of Yoba fucking hell, would you look at this place?” Abigail and Mia share a look when Sam chooses to stand at the music store entranceway and start swearing at the top of his lungs. 

“I’m gonna go that way and pretend I’m not with him -- you in?” Abigail points in a random direction as she looks at Mia, perfectly aware that they’re within Sam’s earshot. He glares over his shoulder at her, but Seb’s already taking Abby’s hand and pulling her in the direction she pointed, leaving Mia with Sam. 

Stepping up to stand beside him, Mia examines the store, in awe of how massive it is and understanding perfectly why Sam had decided to let out a string of amazed profanities. He looks around, feeling overwhelmed by all the options.

“How much do you think triangles cost?” Sam meets Mia’s eyes, drawing a triangle in the air with uncertainty, as if to ask that he’d heard her right. She nods, mimicking him. “Triangles. Like the ones in band class. Do you think they’re expensive? How much money could a triangle be?” Sam watches her rant with amusement in his eyes.

“You tryna join the band, Mia?” She cuts off her own line of confused thinking, laughing at him.

“That’s a no from me -- I just have questions about the world that need answering.” With that, she disappears down a random aisle, and as Sam moves down the main section, he can hear her calling out to an employee nearby.

 _“Excuse me, sir -- do you have triangles?”_ Sam snorts, imagining what a disaster that conversation’s about to be, and moves with purpose through the store. He finds what he’s looking for with the help of the signs over the aisles, so he rolls up his sleeves and starts browsing. 

Maybe half an hour later, Mia’s searching the store for Sam, having found Seb and Abby separately examining equipment for their own instruments and spending some time with them. She'd discovered that, even though she and Abigail also haven’t had much time to get to know each other, they get on very easily. She’d sat and watched Abby mess around on a drumkit for a while before being dragged over to the electronics to look for a drum machine. She has no idea what any of this stuff does, music being more of her sister’s thing, but she’d had a lot of fun watching Abby ramble about the potential benefits of drum machine and contemplate buying one.

Sebastian had been in a similar predicament -- Mia found him surrounded by keyboards, making some very interesting faces as he tried them out. They’d even spent five minutes with their ears very close to the keys, Sebastian wondering if a certain keyboard sounded clearer than another and if it’d be worth the money, and Mia’s positive they’d gotten some strange looks from other customers. 

Mia rounds a corner, humming to herself as she looks around. She can’t see Sam’s blond hair anywhere from where she’s standing, and she’s certain she’d looked everywhere else already. Heading down one of the middle aisles, she almost misses the flash of blond coming from an aisle on the right. Poking her head back in, she finds him there, sitting on the floor surrounded by technology. He’s got his phone out, typing frantically into it and scrolling with diligence before studying the thing in his lap. Mia couldn’t even begin to say what it is, but it looks a lot like a tiny keyboard surrounded by buttons.

“You’re concerningly hard to find when you want to be.” Sam whips his head up, smiling brightly when he sees it’s her. Mia can’t help but see the resemblance between him and Vincent with that one smile, and she just knows Sam must be very much in his element right now.

“Hey! What’d you get?” He’s pointing down at the plastic bag that’s hanging from her fingers, so she joins him on the floor and opens it for him to see.

“Triangles! Turns out they’re not that expensive.” He stares into the bag, counting silently before speaking, not even bothering to look up. 

“Why do you need… _four_ triangles?” She smiles when he meets her eyes.

“One for each of us! To commemorate our trip to the city.” He squints at her, trying to understand how her brain works.

“That… is really fucking cute, I’m not going to lie.” She flushes and pushes at his shoulder, pointing down at the thing in his lap almost childishly. 

“What’s with the baby keyboard?” He holds it up to show her. 

“It’s a MIDI keyboard -- it’ll help me create some of those more artificial sounds that add really cool layers to the music. Actually--” He gestures around to the circle of equipment around him. “All this stuff will help me with that. I haven’t been able to decide, but I think I’ll just get this small one for now to hook up to my computer and try it out before buying in something big.” Mia huffs exactly once at him, and Sam thinks it’s entertaining that this is her sign of exasperation. 

“We brought you here to buy something big! You have the money for it, so what’s wrong with investing in yourself?” He grins, loving the idea that Mia thinks he’s being too frugal with the things he wants.

“Well, I’m not totally sure yet how this will go, so I don’t want to buy something huge and then regret it. Plus, I actually want to get one more thing -- and it’s expensive, so don’t worry about me not investing in myself.” He stands, returning the display items to their spots and cleaning up the mess he made. He grabs the keyboard he wants from the shelf and guides her back in the direction she came from. They wander the back of the store before coming to a large section filled with guitars. He points out at one of them, and Mia sees that it only has four strings.

“A bass? But don’t you play the other guitar?” Sam nods, walking to the section that only has bass guitars and looking each of them over with a careful eye.

“That is correct, thank you for remembering. I actually don’t know how to play the bass, but I’m guessing the guitar’s a good enough foundation that I can pick it up relatively quickly.” He grabs a black one, examining it as he talks. “What’s your favorite color, farm girl?” Mia follows him as he browses the section.

“Mint -- why?” Sam glances at her quickly with intrigue, humming.

“Mint, huh? That’s a very specific color.”

“I know what I like.” Their eyes meet again, and Mia feels like she must have known Sam in a past life because, even only after just over a week of knowing each other, she can read him like a book. “Don’t say anything stupid, Samson.” He laughs at the general instruction, finding what he’s looking for across the section and heading toward it as he calls back to her. 

“That is a very vague thing to say to someone whose daily interactions are at least 50% stupid. I was just wondering if you also happen to like painfully handsome, energetic blonds, or if I’m a special case.”

“See, that? That was the stupid thing I was telling you not to say.” He smiles, picking up the bass he’s found and holding it up to show her -- it’s an icy mint color, bright against all the darker colors on the guitars surrounding it.

“It’s exactly 2,500 gold, coincidentally enough. Almost like it’s meant for me, huh?” Mia stares at him, shocked.

“You’re going to buy a mint bass just because I said it was my favorite color?” He nods like it’s not a big deal, but then he thinks of something that apparently makes him shy because he looks away, choosing to return his gaze to the instrument while he explains.

“Well, yeah. I don’t know, it’s a cool color. I don’t really have a preference for those things, anyway. But also, I only really discovered an interest in the bass because of that music you showed me -- it had some really nice basslines, and I want to be able to record samples of it into my own stuff. I don’t think it would go well if I tried to recreate it artificially, so I just thought… I would get one… and do it myself...” He trails off, feeling stupid. He thinks maybe it’s too grand of a gesture, especially since Mia’s not responding, but when he glances up again, she’s staring at him with a look in her eye that he’s never seen before.

“Sam, you are just… nothing like what I imagined.” She’s overcome with emotion, thinking that this must not be a huge thing for Sam, but it's huge for her. She’s not used to being the reason for _anything_ , really, so the idea that Sam’s brain is just wired to do things that remind him of his friends and family without even thinking about it -- as if it’s as simple as breathing -- is something far too overwhelming for Mia to process. She swallows hard, not even noticing that Sam’s approaching her. His eyes are panicked, worried that he’s somehow upset her, but he doesn’t want this to become a weird moment they can’t bounce back from, so he defaults to the only thing he knows: humor.

“If you hate the color, just tell me straight up. I can see if they have a more green-y mint instead of this icy one.” Mia breathes out a laugh, unsteady, and shakes her head.

“It’s a beautiful color, I love it.” When he wraps an around her shoulders, she nudges his ribs with her elbows, letting him guide her in the direction of an employee that can help him wrap up the bass. “You’re insane, Sam. You really are.”

“Yeah, yeah -- you can thank me by buying me lunch. I’m starving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay this is literally the longest chapter i've written yet, so i really hope you guys like it!! i also am still unsure about how fast the romance part is going -- i dont want to make things too heavy or serious / have them progress too much with that before a few more important plot points happen, so please please let me know if you guys think there's too much of it going on already! I might try to reign it in a bit and make it more playful friends energy with some oblivious crushing and less outward flirting, but i havent decided yet

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first time writing for SDV, and my first time ever posting my work on ao3!! i really hope this is a story people are interested in! im just here to give sam all my love <3


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